You’re the Voice

So, I’ m watching American Idol as usuall the other night when David Archuleta came on.  This week’s theme was sing a song from the year you were born.  So, David comes out with “You’re the Voice” and as he’s singing it I’m like, Huh, that’s oddly familiar.  Where did I hear that song?  Oh yeah, that incredibly gripping movie about an aspiring stunt man trying to save his step father’s life, “Hot Rod”

Andy Sanberg anybody?!?

Here you go… enjoy!

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOYvsjqoc-8

and David’s version minus the stunts…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YD1G5rPD8vM

Updated…

Thank you American Idol for giving credit where it was needed… and to Chris (the original cover artist) for being a good sport as well

American Idol…cover of a cover…

I was so amazed at the creativity of David Cook last night on american idol with his version of Billie Jean (michael jackson).

I was amazed, that is, until i found out it’s not his version.  A guy named Chris Cornell has been doing it for a while now.  I’m still a fan of David’s and think he’s a great talent…but you’ve got to give credit where it’s due my friend.

Chris’s version, while it may not have the production backing that Idol has…it’s the creative original.  And that says a lot.

Watch Chris’s version here…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBGIQ7ZuuiU

David Cook’s version here…

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb05uu7xIYg

March Travels

March 7^th, 2008…the day after the day I was born.

 

With a new position at work come new places to actually do the work.  Being in a regional position was a pretty big step up…now I’m realizing it also means a step out.  Out of New York City, that is.  My first two weeks on the job involved working mostly out of Parsippany (persniketty if you’re asking my older brother) New Jersey.  It’s a small town basically made of business parks, which is not nearly as exciting as it sounds.  This week takes me from Philadelphia to Hartford and next week back to Philly again.

 

With that said, I can honestly say I’m enjoying the work and all the new stuff I’m learning.  The travel is tiring at times, but certainly gives me great views of the northeast that I hadn’t seen until now.  Sunrises and sunsets over the city as you’re leaving it and coming back in are a pretty spectacular thing.  Who new that concrete and steel buildings could be so beautiful with the backdrop of purple skies?

 

Until now, most of my train rides have been really peaceful.  Until now, I haven’t had to be on the train on a Friday.

 

Friday = college kids all going back to where the came from.

Friday = crazy people coming into the city to spend the weekend with college kids going

   back to where they came from.

Friday = a walk up to the snack car and getting a beer…and settling for the Budweiser.

 

It’s hard to complain though.  I’m coming back to a city that people flock to in every season for a thousand reasons.  I live here!  And as see the rest of the northeast and the beauty that it is…I’m also loving coming back to the city all the more.

 

More stories from the train to come.

 

Christmas Tree Excursion 2k7!!!

Dashing through the snow…in a rented SUV…over the Hudson we go…to find a Christmas Tree

Jersey usually stinks…but we found a reason to go…they have farms with christmas trees that we can cut on our own….soooooo

Not this one…it’s got some issues…

So many to choose from…a 50 acre farm

 we’re so tree huggers (green is the new pink)

Reverse Angle (sweet)

 John and Sarah found their tree…john’s the guy without the head…

The lumberjacks…

My turn…

Done…did you time me?

 Us…

This guy puts it in a shaker to get all the dead stuff and lizards and birds and ninjas and squirls out…

Then we got it home…

 I’ll help…

and i’m spent

 lighting engineer…

 Girly stuff is next…

Action Shot…nice!

And Finally…Joy To The World…

And guess who’s back to help…

Good talk Russ.

Dane Cook and Delivered Turkeys

This past weekend was relatively quiet.  Heather and I went and celebrated Sarah’s birthday on Friday.  It was pretty low key, but always a good time with friends.  Saturday was our day to clean the church offices.  Heather has taken it upon herself to organize (see throw away junk) at the office.  So, she’s been working pretty  hard to get it to a more presentable state.  As a church, we store so much at our office because in Manhattan, space is money.  That’s all changing though, which I’ll touch on in a different post coming soon. (so stay tuned)

 Anyway, you’re probaby wondering why the title says Dane Cook and Delivered Turkeys.  They’re not related at all, but they’re both really fun.  On Sunday night, Heather and I and some friends went to see Dane Cook at Madison Square Garden.  Dane, like many comedians can be quite vulgar, but has a way of making the simplest things in life really funny.  It’s certainly not for the kiddies to listen to, but if you’re looking for some good laughs he’s a good place to start.  Of course, you might not ever reach the level of Bill Cosby’s stand-up routine, but then who can?  (you might also like mitch hedberg or demitri martin…both super funny)

 So, that brings us to Thanksgiving week!  Praise the living God that it’s finally here.  I love this week.  It’s the epidomy of Fall.  Cool weather, football, amazing food, and the start of Christmas.  I was thinking today that I really don’t mind how early all the Christmas stuff comes out.  I used to think that you should wait until after Thanksgiving (and for the most part we do wait)  but at the same time…how great is it that we can celebrate the birth of Jesus for a couple months!  (I have to say that I wouldn’t mind so much if people started celebrating my birthday about a month and a half in advance…anyone?!?)

I see where people get a little cranky about it though…it’s not the birth of Jesus that is being celebrated, it’s the decorations and the gifts and the retailers and the shows and the lights that we celebrate, and it tends to take away from the real reason for the season.  But once again, I’ve completely digressed.

So, Delivered Turkey.  Everything is delivered in Manhattan.  Your laundry, your McDonalds, your movies, (not so much your mail, which is strange) just about anything you want can be delivered.  When you have to walk down to the grocery store, and you only buy as much as you can carry…it starts to get old.  So, we’ve discovered what so many people love and enjoy www.freshdirect.com

It’s the best!  we go grocery shopping online and in a day or so, it’s all delivered to the apartment for bascially no fee.  So, instead of having to walk up the hill with all of thanksgiving in our hands…we had a guy in a truck bring thanksgiving to us.  And we love him for it.  Thank you Fresh Direct!

Happy Thanksgiving!

The weekend review…

Not the craziest weekend by any means, but certainly one that went too quickly.  On Friday, Heather and I stayed in and watched Mission Impossible. (remember when Tom Cruize was only a little weird?)  It was a rainy cold night…which are the best to stay in an watch movies. 

Saturday turned out to be beautiful.  Still a bit cold, but really great weather.  Heather and I did some organizing around the house.  Cleaned out the hallway closet, hung some stuff on walls, rearranged stuff and then put it back where it was to begin with.  In the afternoon I met up with some guys from church.  We went up on my buddy Joe’s rooftop and had some cigars while we talked about church and building up leaders in New York City.  One thing we really hit on was how men love a mission…a pursuit of something that burns within us. 

I have to say that reaching the lost in New York City is a really fun mission.  People here are so real about who they are and where they are in life.  If things are terrible or if they just don’t like you, they’ll let you know.   Which makes the testimony all the more powerful when Christ come into their lives.  Where they were so real in their sin, they are even more real in their love for God and the life it creates. 

 This leads me to Saturday night…David Crowder Band at the Hamerstein Ballroom.  Pics to come soon!  Phil Wickham opened for him.  We only caught the last few songs of his set, but he’s got a pretty incredible voice.  And the lyrics of his songs are pretty much awesome too.  Crowder’s band seemed a bit tired (I would be too after 31 show tour) and the mix wasn’t so good from where we were standing.  For those who love audio, it was difficult to hear Crowder…along with the snare drum…two of the main things that I love up in the mix.  anyway…overall the show was pretty good.  I’m a fan of his ability to write some insightful worship stuff that isn’t over your head and isn’t too simple either.

 On to Sunday.  I went to help a friend do some “installs” on a restaurant window.  We basically put huge stickers on huge windows of a restaurant in time square.  It’s pretty cool work…creative and detailed, and instant gratification.  You see your work completed, and hear tourist comments as they walk by.  I’d post pics, but don’t have any. 

Then onto church where Heather and I lead worship, which is always a blast.  We love our church, and love leading them in worship.  nough said.

I bought Christmas candy today.  Not because i’m in the Christmas mode yet…but because it’s buy one get one free.

I’m a sucker for a deal, what I can I say?

Peace out.

2nd Annual Reed Anti-Halloween Poker Party Bash 2K7

So it’s that time again…2nd annual Reed Anti-Halloween Poker Party Bash 2K7.  It was exactly a year a go, give or take a week, that we hosted our first Annual Reed Anti-Halloween Poker Party Bash 2K6.  It’s not that we don’t want people to dress up and have fun trick-or-treating, we just feel good about providing an alternative for those who like alternatives.  Plus, Heather loves that we now have an Annual event to host annually.  So, we hosted about 17 people in our little apartment where we had amazing food prepared by Heather, and amazing sweets provided by friends that came (see www.crumbsbakeshop.com ). 

 We were a bit concerned that the weather would keep people away…it was a super rainy day on Friday and a perfect night to stay in which makes me even happier that we were hosting!  But people braved the monsoon and came on up to the party.  We eventually got around to playing poker.  It’s tough to play with so many people, so we tried to make it a quick game.  Our good friend Shelby tried to hustle us…she claims she’s never played (see “are picture cards good?!”) however her strategy proved to be better than any of ours.  Any time she had a “picture card” (or as we say in poker, a Face Card) she would bet through the whole hand.  And she would win.  That is, until our friend Joe came along and showed her how it’s done….and eventually won the game.  So, nicely done Shelb…but we all know your strategy now, so ha!

 Before all of this went down on Friday…I had the annual ABLE Talent show at my work (www.deloitte.com).  Deloitte’s great cause we get to share our talents and win prizes.  I’m also a fan of ABLE which is the Association of Black and Latino Employees.  You might be thinking I don’t fit in there…but you’d be wrong.  I love it!  And they let me sing my songs and play my guitar which is nice of them!

 So, I came in Second place again…I always lose to this guy who sings songs about girls, but not the kind your mom would let you listen to.  He’s a great singer, I don’t want to take anything away from that, but I do think he’s got the edge in “dancing” with the ladies while he sings (i use the word “dance” loosely)  It’s all fun and games though…and second place is great!  it bought me new boots just in time for Fall which is about 2 months late at this point. 

 So, it was a week of Annual happenings. 

230 Fifth Ave

So, working in event planning has its perks.  About a week ago on a beautiful night, we had an event at a rooftop lounge called 230 Fifth, which is at 230 fifth avenue for those wanting directions.  It’s a great venue with great food and drinks.  The best part was we had about half the roof dedicated to our Deloitte event, so free food and drinks along with great views…these are pics from their website.  If you’re in the city and the weather is nice, I highly recommend it.

 

 

 

Labamorial Day reviewed:

Let me first apologize for the lack of pictures of the weekend.
A. The camera died for lack of battery, and we didn’t charge it…lazy
B. I can’t find the little cord that connects the camera to the computer…i think the cat ate it.

The weekend was great…We both had friday off work so we slept in and took it easy for the morning. Heather got a migrane which is equivalent to a coma for the day. She took the imatrex stuff, which made the migrane go away, but also makes you feel like you were hit by a freight train (which aparently is painful). So, me and Gucci did some cleaning around the apartment. Later on Friday we went to a rooftop restaurant up close to where we live with a couple friends. And then back home.

Saturday was sleep in day again. We took it easy for the morning, then went down to our new bank to change Heather’s name from Nelson to Reed. Yes, after a whole year of being married and having changed every identification possible…the bank still got it wrong. Awesome! Then we went to help our friends, the Yegnazar’s, unpack all their stuff from moving. That was fun cause we love the yegies and love unpacking. They have a great new apartment on the upper west side, basically in Central Park.

After helping the yegies get a little situated, we went down to meet up with some friends for a welcome home Tanner party. Our friend Tanner has been in Hong Kong for the last 3 months. We thought he might look asian after being there for so long…but true to Tanner style, he was wearing the same thing he had on when he left. A V-neck t-shirt, jeans, chuck taylors, and that’s it. That’s Tanner’s uniform for life.

Sunday was the marathon day. We love Sundays cause we get to lead worship for two of our church services. sometimes it wears us out, but it’s hard to complain when you’re doing what you love. After the morning services, we met up with some other friends that were in town for the weekend. We had brunch down in the village (west side below 14th street). After brunch we went and got cupcakes and banana pudding from Magnolia. AMAZING. the cupcakes are great, but the banana pudding is the secret weapon. seriously, you can’t beat it.

church again on Sunday night…and then home…to bed! i love sleep!

Monday was cleaning day continued…and then off to central park with the friends. we and about ten thousand of our neighbors all enjoyed the beautiful weather in the park. hung out for a while…and then went over to Joe’s place (that’s our friend Joe…not a restaurant or something). Joe and his buddies have a great apartment where we cooked burgers and stuff and played Wii and then played poker…which I’m happy to say I won…which provided Heather with a manicure. Ask me how that works…i don’t know. i win poker…heather gets manicure.

So…back to work for the short week.