The Other Way

It's gone.
Innocence.
It's gone.

Creation fell.
Its sad to say.
It only happened yesterday.
Heaven broke, and fell away.

Do you remember when we danced with angels?
When paradise was our backyard?
When we didn't need a Saviour
Because we could touch the face of God?

We walked in heaven, but turned away.
How is that the better way?
The world is going straight to hell.
I am going the other way.

Creation fell.
Its sad to say.
It only happened yesterday.
This world is marching straight to hell.
So I am going the other way.

Lets Be Rock Stars.

Lets not stagnate and settle for the status quo.

I'd rather we make it our mission to strive for excellence, to embrace greatness. To be all that we can be, and so much more.

Lets be rock stars. Be poets. Be Dreamers, be dancers, artists and scientists. Be creative thinkers, embrace reality and seek to discover the ultimate truths about our universe.

Let us settle our differences and embrace the things that make us human, and make us great. Let us kick our respective religions* to the curb and embrace faith instead.

Let us not only meet expectations, or exceed expectations, but shatter them completely.

Let us not settle for the mediocre, but reach out and capture the stars. They are ours for the taking if we want them. Lets go get them. What are we waiting for?

* Faith is acting on a belief and an idea. Religion is humans adding bureaucracy and/or fanaticism to our beliefs. Catholicism is a religion, so is fanatical Islam, global warming, evolutionism, and being a fanatical fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs, or Washington Redskins. Faith is good, religion is dangerous. As an example, Men of religion like the Pope have brought us inquisitions and crusades. Those that staunchly believe in global warming and its pending doom bring us pseudo science that clouds rational thought (lets face it folks, global warming may be real and evidence does exist, but the hard science clearly has not ruled in its favour yet). On the other hand, people of faith like Gandhi, Billy Graham, and Mother Teresa have brought peace, love and comfort to whoever they touched. Which one do you want?

Aliens Cause Global Warming

A very interesting speech by Michael Crichton about the negative side effects of politics mixing with science.

http://www.crichton-official.com/speech-alienscauseglobalwarming.html

Lets Play Catch-up... Brad Paisley vs. Aerosmith

So I haven't blogged since I got married. Let me tell ya, things are going great. Deborah Lynn is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I've been so busy enjoying living my life with her I didn't have time to blog... but now its time to get back to it!

Why the sudden return to blogging? Well, its because I am in Chicago on a business trip, and I was forced to leave Debbie at home. So I blog to kill time...

So whats the topic de jour? Well, not surprisingly its music. recently I had the privilege to attend two amazing concerts. The headliners? Brad Paisley and Aerosmith.

Brad Paisley

I originally agreed to go to Brad Paisley because he is one of Debbies favourite country stars. Happy wife is a happy Dave, so I bought tickets, and took my wife. I expected the show to be boring... I was in for a surprise...

First of all, the opening acts (Taylor Swift & Rodney Aikens) were entertaining. They both put on a great show, was entertaining and funny, and played solid music that sounded great. They set a high bar for Brad... which Brad leaped over with 6 feet to spare.

Brad is an amazingly talented guitarist, and he used it to rock out for the entire show. He played several guitar solos, including a marathon 10+ minute blister-fest that contained some of the best sounding guitar I have ever witnessed live.

Brads stage decoration was a large stack of monitors that constantly shown graphics and animations appropriate for each song he played. It was an impressive show. Brad definitely won a fan out of me.

Which leads me to...

Aerosmith

A week and a half later I dragged Debbie out to see Aerosmith. This is the third time I've seen Aerosmith live, and they blew the socks off their other performances. They played some 90s hits, and a couple songs from their recent blues album, Honkin On Bobo. Then they played a solid lineup of their oldies - solid rockin blues rock. Joe Perry went on several improv solos that were simply amazing. He played his guitar behind his back. He played it by having the drummer drum on the strings, and he played it with Steve Tyler fingering the chords from behind his back - absolutely amazing.

The energy was cranked to 1000% for the entire concert. It was nothing but pure excitement. Steven Tyler gets more crazy, and Aerosmith gets louder every time they go out on tour. The older they get, the better they get. They are truely the gods of rock, and there is none higher. If your a rock fan and have not seen Aerosmith live, you are cheating yourself out of an experience you will never forget.

The Dave Debbie Connection

June 9, 2007 is a day that will live in infamy.

That is the date that I married Deborah Lynn Schilstra, my dearest love and best friend, at Westfield Heritage Village in Rockton Ontario.

From outside appearances, the wedding and reception was not much different than any other typical wedding and reception in Canada, so I shall spare you the gruesome task of regurgitating details that already come to mind when one thinks of a Canadian Wedding. I shall concentrate on the facts that made this wedding uniquely ours.

1. We served Tim Bits between the ceremony and the reception. Deborah and I can be seen toasting wtih Tim Bits in the above picture.
   
   
2. We had Lego (well, a cheap lego substitute, but it worked) on the tables at our reception. Guests were invited to make something out of the Lego to present to the bride and groom, who would then kiss. We were told that we ended up kissing more than brides and grooms have at other weddings our guests has attended previously. We did not mind.
   
   
3. On the way to the rehearsal, we drove through a major thunderstorm, and into an area under a Tornado watch. We didn't care. There was some hitching to do!
   
   
4. Aside from the pastor and the caterer, we had no outside help for the wedding, our piano player, photographer, videographer, MC, reception music etc was handled by friends and family.
   
   
5. Deborah was driven to the church in her fathers 1928 Durant. (seen in the above picture).
   
   
6. Hokey crap, I actually got married!
   

Most people we have talked to during the day expressed amazement at how calm we both were about the wedding. To me it felt as natural as putting on a jacket. That to me is the most amazing part. If someone had told me two years ago that I would now be married I would have laughed in their face, and pictured the worst possible situation in my head. Now, I can't help but feel anything but happiness and good feelings about my future.

As I stood at the front of the chapel, waiting for my bride to drive up, I must confess to being nervous, and tears came to my eyes. I first saw Deborah in her wedding dress, with a veil covering her face, through the back windows of the chapel. An amazing and overwhelming feeling came over me. It was like everything I knew to be true about her, and our relationship hit me all at once (like a frozen puck to the head, one might say). I was about to marry my best friend, deepest love, and most trusted companion. She was about to walk down the aisle and join me in a union that will last my entire life. And willingly at that! I couldn't wait for her to walk down that aisle! The smile she gave me when I finally took her hand was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I am still lost in the glow in her eyes.

I have never been happier, or at peace with the world, during these past 5 days of marriage. Its a euphoria that keeps washing over me. Every time I look at her, or even think of her, I cannot help but smile. Every time she looks at me, I cannot help but feel blessed. I am caught up in a whirlwind of emotion based on our love, commitment and friendship.

I know these feelings will fade, and all to soon we will settle down into married life. However I do know that for the rest of my life these feelings will stay with me. The best possible thing that could ever happen to me has just occurred, and I get to enjoy it for the rest of our lives.

Together.

What a beautiful thing that is.

Out of spite.

The following are things either Deborah or I have done, usually to each other but not always, out of spite...

1. Turn on Christmas lights
2. Ordered spaghetti
3. Hiccup'd

... Its gonna be a fun marriage :)

Edit: The above is meant to be humourous, not a complaint. The ability to do random things out of spite works well for us. I highly reccomend it as stress relief.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Steve Tyler of Aerosmith

One of my favourite bands is Aerosmith. When they hit their stride on stage with a strong rock riff with a blues influence, theres really nothing better. Here is Steve singing his heart out at a church in Detroit:

Amazing Grace:



Lean On Me:


And Finally, Live on stage with Aerosmith: Dream On.


Not bad eh?