My Top Discoveries of 2007

“Psych“–It’s an awesome T.V. show on USA Network starring James Roday as “psychic” detective Shawn Spencer, who isn’t really psychic, but pretends that he is. It’s great and the new season starts on Jan. 11.

“Pushing Daisies“–I love this show so much that I blogged about one of its actresses, Kristin Chenoweth  (read “Snooked on Pushing Daisies” here).

LOTS OF MUSIC–I’ve been introduced to many a good musicians and bands in 2007 through my work with YMX, but here are some of my new favorites.

Brandon Heath–great singer/songwriter with a great heart for God and worship.

Grey Holiday–hilarious and deep; great combo.

David Klinkenberg–makes me wish I hadn’t given up so easily on violin lessons in 4th grade, yet I’d probably never be as good as this guy.  He’s amazing to see perform live.

Nickel Creek–they’re good together and Chris Thile does a great job flying solo!

Leeland–Yeah, I didn’t listen to them before 2007, but I’m glad another year didn’t go by without their music.

Hairspray: One of the cult classics I had never indulged in until its remake.  I love Nikki Blonksky.

High School Musical 2:  I don’t know about this Zac Efron kid, but Lucas Grabeel is cute!

Fred Weasley is NOT DEAD! After the final Harry Potter book was released there was some confusion.  An apparent misprint in the book says that a wall fell on him.  That’s completely inaccurate.  Fred’s alive and well–I don’t care what you say.  If you don’t believe me, read this!

Marley & Me is a great book about a man and his dog.  Plus, the New York Times best-selling author and I live in the same zip code!!!

Potter Puppet Pals is a website that makes funny Harry Potter parody videos using puppets.

Facebook–why didn’t I sign up sooner?  If I’m not your buddy, I should be.

Macs may be better, but I still can’t afford one.

And, last but certainly not least, the wonders of Animal Planet and The Discovery Channel.  There’s a show on Animal Planet all about meercats and another about apes–how cool is that?

Maybe MySpace Isn’t *THAT* Bad…

Even though I much prefer Facebook over its competitor, MySpace, I’ve found myself hanging out on MySpace lately. Here’s why:

THE MYRIAD

1. I like to check out bands and on MySpace, you can easily listen to their songs. Some debut bands I’ve been enjoying on MySpace include The Myriad and Fort Pastor. Plus, David Klinkenberg has this fantastic song called “Toss the Feathers”, which I can only listen to on his MySpace profile.

2. Some old pals have been sending me messages on MySpace. In order to write back, I have to actually be on MySpace. And of course I want to write back because they’re my old friends and it’s exciting to hear from them again.

3. I like to read the profiles of fictional characters. That’s right Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster from the USA Network show, “Psych“, have MySpace Profiles. Not only did I ask them to be my buddies, they’re numbers two and three on my “Top Friends” list. Because you should always put fake characters in front of people you know in real life.

Yeah, and I also like to read their blogs. The scariest part is that I’m not the only one. Seriously, there are people who leave comments for these guys. Like the other day it was Shawn’s 31st birthday–hundreds of people wished him a happy birthday. He’s not real! Yet Shawn and Gus have over 5000 friends! I’m not sure if it’s sad or scary. I’ll go with funny.

“Hope is a thing with feathers”

AS AN ASIDE: One of the reasons I like David Klinkenberg’s song “Toss the Feathers” so much is because I rather enjoy feathers, so much so that I have a cockatiel, who has feathers. I believe it started in college with my one English lit professor. I had a black sweater that had frilly feathers around the neckline and sleeves. Whenever I wore it she would say to me, “Emily Dickinson said, ‘Hope is a thing with feathers.’” By the end of my undergraduate schooling, I’d quote Emily D. at her when I saw her coming. Now when I see feathers, I think of hope…Emily Dickinson…and my English lit professor, who resembles author Ann Lamott. I can still see her leaning against the wall of the liberal studies building wearing a long black dress and smoking a cigarette. Man, I miss college.

Here’s Emily Dickinson’s poem about hope & feathers:

Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune–without the words,
And never stops at all,

And sweetest in the gale is heard;
And sore must be the storm
That could abash the little bird
That kept so many warm.

I’ve heard it in the chillest land, And on the strangest sea;
Yet, never, in extremity,
It asked a crumb of me.

I met Santa!

The other night before seeing David Klinkenberg (isn’t that a fantastic last name?) at the State Theater, Sarah and I went to Dairy Queen and came face-to-face with Santa Claus! Naturally, I got my picture taken with the ol’ guy. You can read my post about interviewing David and the concert here. Seriously, you have got to check this guy out and bring it to your church for a performance. He’ll knock your socks off!

BTW, the coat I’m wearing in this picture–got it this year for $20 at Ollie’s. How amazing is that?

The Fiddle Man

I borrowed the above image from David’s website because David said I couldn’t use the pics I took of him because he claims he had pizza all over his face, which he didn’t. I figured he wouldn’t mind because I wrote this highly flattering post about him.

Today I had the pleasure of hanging out with a talented musician named David Klinkenberg. OK, we weren’t really “hanging out” as much as getting lost in my Tracker driving around Easton, PA while looking for a place to get some grub and conduct an interview. But, hey, we had a good time; there was a screaming sling shot monkey involved, it’s all good. I was a bit afraid I would somehow damage David while borrowing him from the tour, but I returned him safe and sound. After dropping David back off at the venue, I bought Sarah a Christmas present, then met up with Sarah herself where we ran into SANTA CLAUS outside of Dairy Queen (Of course, I took a picture. I’ll post it tomorrow). Finally, after all that commotion we both headed back to the State Theater in Easton to catch David and the rest of his gang perform.

David (or “Klink” as some people calll him, although I never actually heard anyone call him that) is a fiddle player touring with Jim Brickman (who’s an internationally-renowned pianist according to the program bill), Richie McDonald (he used to be the lead singer of Lonestar) and Anne Cochran (she’s a singer and she really wants to be on “Dancing With the Stars”. If you’re a fan of Anne Cochran, start a petition and hook the lady up!) The show was pretty spectacular with singing and piano playing and fiddling. Plus, Anne Cochran wore some splendid sparkly outfits, dazzling the audience both with her voice and her attire.

Sarah and I found David Klinkenberg to be the real star of the show…and not because he was clearly the best-looking guy on stage or because I interviewed him earlier in the day (although those two factors certainly helped), but because he was the most unique performer I’ve seen in a long time. He took the stage with his fiddle and his body moved with each and every stroke of his bow. It was if he was dancing on-stage with the fiddle, a waltz for two. There was something magical and spiritual about his performance. Unfortunately, David only did one full song solo, but he commanded the stage.

Generally, I interview authors or Christian rockers or youth ministry people and David doesn’t fit into that demographic. Yet interviewing him about worship, music, and random other topics was delightful because not only is he candid and frank, with biting wit, he’s someone who’s actually out there using his talent tremendously for God in a venue that most people in their 20′s/30′s (There is some debate on how old David actually is, since he wouldn’t tell me, but he’s somewhere between 14 and 38) don’t consider a “mission field.” I don’t think that David thinks of himself as a big missionary, just a guy with a fiddle playing for God and the people who happen to be sitting in the audience.

Anyway, you should definitely check out David’s website or his MySpace for more information on his music…or just wait until my article about David Klinkenberg is published on YMX…or do both. Book him at your church for a spring or summer concert–everyone will love him and the teenage girls will think he’s cute. Rock on, Fiddle Man, rock on! (I’m not really sure why I started calling him “The Fiddle Man”, but I did and now I just can’t stop.)

And a big shout out to Elyse from L.A.B. Media who hooked the whole thing up. She definitely deserves a screaming sling shot monkey.

By the way, David is a fan of CHRIS THILE, the guy from Nickel Creek. He says that Thile is the best mandolin player there is, which makes me hope that I’ll get one of Thile’s solo albums for Christmas. David also likes Leeland and Derek Webb, but I think he liked Chris Thile more.