Here's the vlog from the other day. I still can't get it to upload to seesmic, so I went with an old standby of blip.tv

Enjoy.



link

andrew+seely vlog videoblog videoblogging

We are on our way home from the waterski / wakeboard trip. I had recorded a vlog for you all earlier this morning, but I was having trouble recording straight to seesmic, so I ended up using iMovie to record it, but for some reason I can't seem to get it to upload to seesmic. I'll keep trying so you can see a bit of where we were staying.

Hope you all have had a good week!!!

andrew+seely personal

pt 1

Here's my follow up post filling you in on The Church Basement Roadshow.

If you've been following the guys at all then you know they've already made their way up to the pacific northwest after a number of stops in CA.

My overall impression of the tour is great. I got a chance to see the show twice. First on opening night down in Santa Monica and then at my home church of 1st Presbyterian Church of Granada Hills. It was nice to see even the little differences from first night to second night. The confidence and ease in which the performance felt like it came together was beginning to change as the guys started to settle into their roles. I wish there was some way for me to see it again during the middle or the last leg of the tour when they guys have become completely comfortable and have honed in on all of the little things that will get worked out / improved on as time goes on. If some one wants to buy me a round trip ticket to any of those cities on any of those dates I will gladly accept it.

The other thing I must say about the tour and they guys is that, I love these men. They are close personal friends of mine whom I respect and enjoy their company. They for all I care could have stood on stage and read the phone book and I probably would have been enthralled. It's not to say that there weren't things about the show that could have been better. I think biggest criticism that I heard before and after the show was that people didn't know exactly what they were coming to. Which in some ways I agree with, while using the phrase "a rollin gospel revival" is easy to spit out, it in many ways does not explain what the show is about. The other thing that I think some people were expecting was more of a primer about what the "emergent church" or "emergent" is/was about. Granted I don't think the intention was for the show to be an on-ramp event but more of a showcase of pieces of the lives of each of the guys, that exemplifies "emergent" like values, I think it would have been a bit helpful to give people at least a flier that briefly explained what emergent village was about.

I know at the 2nd night, if NOTHING else was accomplished, that one of the older "silver-haired saints" (as I like to call them) ladies, due to the show, was compelled to re-commit her life to the service of Jesus. So for me the fact that Doug, Tony and Mark said something that sparked someone to follow Jesus in a new and exciting way, then what they are doing is completely justified and fruitful.

I hope that more stories will emerge as the tour goes on about how people received what the guys had to say and if they were prompted to do anything because of it.

Like I said, I love these guys like brothers, and I love what they all have to say about their desire to follow Jesus. I think they all raise valid points about where the church is, what the church is doing/not doing, and how Jesus' life calls us all to action in the world. Each of them have their own unique perspective, and I would say that I don't agree with all of them 100% of the time, but isn't that what the body of Christ is supposed to be? A body made of many individual parts that contribute something that no other part can contribute, in order to accomplish one task, that only the complete body can accomplish.

Blessings on Mark, Tony and Doug as they continue their journey of meeting and engaging with christians and non christians alike all across the country.

If you have seen the show please feel free to leave comments about what you liked and didn't like and how overall the show affected you and your love for following Jesus.

church+basement+roadshow cbrs tony+jones mark+scandrette doug+pagitt

pt 1
pt 2

A few weeks ago I got to eat at Wokcano, in West Hollywood.

It's a sushi place. There are several other locations around LA.

I really liked it, the sushi wasn't the best sushi I've ever had, but it was good by most standards. The selection was diverse with a few signature dishes. The fish was fresh and well presented.

The one dish that really stood out to me was the salt and pepper tofu.

They took a really firm tofu, and must have deep fried or flash fried it, once it was cut in to about 1/4in pieces. So that the outside was crispy and the inside was warm and creamy. It was mixed in with salt, pepper, garlic, scallions and diced red peppers (hot).

I keep thinking about this dish. It really made an impression on me and all the people that tried it at the table. It was a perfect blend of savory, crispy, garlic, spice and even the delivery system for the flavors (the tofu) was in complete balance.

Price range is in the mid level for a sushi place. It wasn't out of the park expensive, but to get full expect to pay anywhere between 25-40 per person.

I look forward to getting back to wokcano soon, the salt and pepper was listed on "the specials" menu, but I hope they still are featuring it again next time I am there.

Their website is http://www.wokcanocafe.com/

foodie wokcano sushi

This week the PC(USA) is hold it's bi-annual General Assembly, it's the 218th time GA has occurred.

In my opinion this year is fairly pivotal in which direction the denomination will head. There are a lot of issues that are coming up that will shape what will happen from here on out in the denomination.

One of my friends and fellow blogger Adam Walker Cleaveland is one of the official bloggers for the Presbyterian Outlook that is covering General Assembly. Follow his coverage of the event to see what issues are being brought up.

The one thing that I do want to cover here is the selection of a moderator for the denomination. There was a lot of talk, at least in the blogosphere, about who was to be elected and what that would mean for the things to come. Amongst the people I know the conversation centered around Bruce Reyes Chow (blog) (twitter). He (at least to me) represents hope for the denomination, at least on the level of being able to bring up issues that are relevant to the church. Much of the sentiment has been that PCUSA has been ignoring the issues that are present as we examine culture and faith.

I am happy to report that Bruce did clinch the moderator position and I and others are excited about the prospect of what he is going to bring to the future of the denomination and the church at large. Follow his moderator blog here.

It will be interesting to see not only what happens during General Assembly and also what is going to happen during the next two years (the term for a moderator) with Bruce in his leadership role. I hope he will be able to spark reconciliation, hope, change and conversation throughout the PCUSA.

You can also follow the GA action on twitter by tracking GA218.

General+Assembly Presbyterian GA+218 Bruce+Reyes-Chow moderator

Hi from the Delta, like I said before I'm on a waterski / wakeboard trip up on the delta in Northern CA.

I'm going to posting this week as much as I can. It will depend on the cell reception where I am at the moment. Right now I have reception and can use the wi-fi card I have with me that is linked to Verizon. I will most likely write up posts and schedule them to go live during the week. Keep checking back and see what's new.

Hope you have a great week and I'll see you all soon.

PS
Being without Twitter this week is going to be interesting. I'm going to try and not check it even when I do have internet access, we'll see how that goes. So here's a shout out to all the Tweeps (that's short for twitter people).

andrew+seely blog vacation

vlog 10
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Well the end has come. This will be my last post...from this lappy. I am proud to announce that I am now a new parent of a shiny, 15" MacBook Pro!!!!! My mac family is complete (unless you count the 3G iPhone). A shuffle, an iPhone and now a MacBook Pro 15".

I am still coming down off the giddy train. I had a smirk on my face from ear to ear when I was at the apple store.

Here are some pictures of the unboxing...
And now to spend ALL NIGHT getting it set up and ready. Need to transfer over a lot of stuff from old lappy.







andrew+seely apple macbook+pro MBP

vlog 9
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andrew+seely vlog videoblog videoblogging

New Ghetto Blog

Don't forget to update the new address for the ghetto blog. www.andrewsghettoblog.com

andrew+seely ghetto+blog blog humor

Sorry for the lack of everything lately. I have at least 2 foodie posts in my head. As well as the need to get up a new ghetto blog. I think it's been over a month. Cmon' people you gotta keep me accountable for all this stuff.

And then there's a Church Basement Roadshow follow up post for all of you who missed out.

They are coming. Bug me if you see me. Or call me and bug me.

I will try and blame some of it on the fact that my internet at home as been super inconsistent the last 5 or 6 days. I have people coming out on Thurs to deal with it, so hopefully it will get taken care of. And (fingers crossed) I should have a new compy by weeks end.

Hope you all are well. Talk with ya soon.

personal andrew+seely

vlog 8
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Nope this isn't a relationship post.

Just a quick post to let you all know that I'll be at the Aimee Mann show tonight at the HOB in Anaheim.

Won tickets from KCRW the other day so I'm totally stoked, I think I also get an autographed CD in the mail.

Other than that the new job is going really well, working hard meeting people and trying to create buzz for the 2 different companies that I working for. Long days but I feel good about them and I enjoy what I'm doing.

Thanks for all the well wishes and such over the last week.

Hope things have been going well for all of you.

One more note Matt, Jeni and Hosea "the little man" Price are all back in the states for the summer. Good to have them back.

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update 6/8/08 11:31p
Well here's my post show update.

It was an INTERESTING night. Once I got to HOB, and went up to the will-call window, they took my ID and then came back and told me they couldn't find my tickets and couldn't really do anything about it. Freak out moment. I scramble and try to call KCRW to see if I can get anyone to help me. It's now 6:55 and the show is supposed to start at 7. The regular 877 # isn't going through. I think fast, whip out the internet, and find a number for the offices, praying to god that a real person answers and I can get some help. Thankfully Ken answers the phone. Praise Jesus, a real person. He says he can't help me directly but will try to get a hold of the woman who is in charge of ticket giveaways, who has already left for the day. I'm at least a little hopeful at this point. Though I'm thinking if I was her I wouldn't want a phone call on a friday night after I've already gone home from work and probably out to dinner or something like that. Ken does tell me that the number he is trying is for a phone that is only to be used in ticket emergencies. That's at least a bit hopeful. I decide to give her 10-15 min before I just decide to head home and take the hit on gas, and then hopefully can get something else free. Bang, my phone rings!!! It's April on the other end. I explain my situation and she says that she's going to try and get a hold of someone in the box office and see if she can get the whole situation all sorted out. She's a saint. After a few back and forths, and the box office people not really wanting to help me out they hand over some tickets. April = a total help and angel. HOB staff = not customer friendly, they didn't even seem sympathetic to my plight.

Get into the show and it doesn't even start on time. The opening act went on around 7:40 instead of 7 and played for (in my opinion) a bit too long. By the time Aimee Mann went on it was almost 8:30 and I was really tired. Aimee was good, but I ended up leaving early cause her music is so soothing and was about to put me to sleep. In the end I was glad it was a free show and that I didn't feel bad about leaving early. All in all a good night filled with some good adventure and some fun, with a little music on top.

So there you go folks, my Aimee Mann/KCRW adventure. Thanks again to Ken and April of KCRW you two were fabulous!!!
aimee+mann concert kcrw

I wanted to let you all know about an event that is coming up.

It's the Church Basement Road Show

I'm really excited about this event.

A few guys I know, Tony Jones, Mark Scandrette and Doug Pagitt are packing into a bio-diesel RV and touring the country putting on this show.

The short description is that it is a: Rollin' Gospel Revival

The Press Release can be found here.

My home church 1st Presbyterian Church of Granada Hills is hosting the event on Sat June 14th and I am also working with Risen Church down in Santa Monica for their event Fri June 13th.

We need your help to get the word out about these events. Blog, social network, word of mouth, or even snail mail people about this. And if you know of good websites that will post a link to the event, we could use your connection. We already have things up at transparent productions, facebook, myspace, 1st Pres website, upcoming.yahoo and a few more to come. If you know anyone at a newspaper or anything like that we'd totally appreciate the hook up too.

I love all 3 of these guys and know that they all have huge hearts for Jesus. It's my hope and probably theirs too, that people come to these events not to "get saved" but to hear what God is doing in a postmodern culture and how we can respond to it.

It will be funny, cause these guys are goofs, but it will also be challenging and thought provoking.

They will also be selling oil or balm or something.

Here's a super secret tip, buy the oil, you will be WELL rewarded.



church+basement+roadshow cbrs tony+jones mark+scandrette doug+pagitt