Eric's Eddyfications

Tough Times - Steve Cambrione's Story

Last week we began a three part series called "Tough Times", and we are featuring the story of Community attender Steve Cambrione, and his entire journey in finding his way back to God, and the tough times he did go through/is going through. Powerful stuff. Here are the first two parts (of four, probably) that we showed last week. Come to Community this weekend to see the second week of Tough Times and the next installment of the Steve Cambrione story.

The Joint Session of the second semi's of American Idol

Feels like Tuesday doesn't it? It's not - it's Wednesday night and it's time for a new twelve to battle it out for 3 spots in the top 12. (thanks to Obama for the day late) Here are my reactions to the individuals who competed tonight, noted before the judges have their say. And away we gooooooooo!

Jasmine Murray: nervous much? This is not a song that embraces the voice really, and it makes me crazy when they know that, so instead they fill it with a bunch of runs that make no sense for the song.

Matt Giraud: Wow, I hope this pick doesn't ruin his chances. What is up with these picks? He's going to get torched by the judges on this one, I think. Get him his piano and a brandy snifter STAT.

Jeanine Vailes: Yet another one bites the dust - unfortunately she didn't get any airtime prior to this moment, so it will be harder for her to advance.

Nick Mitchell: Wow, I gotta say, as fascinating as this is,the freakshow has bled into the proceedings. The very very frightening part is that so far, he performed the best vocal so far. Unfortunately, that is not saying much so far.

Allison Iraheta: First one so far who actually is owning the moment with, ironically, maturity. So far she should be the next American Idol. Now the competition has started dawg.

Kris Allen: If you're going to pick an MJ song this might be it. He has a muppet mouth. He was fine until the key change and that was too much for him - that plus the fact that the opening of the song was too low at the beginning doesn't bode well for his range.

Megan Corkrey: She's like the more rugged tattoed version of Brooke from last year. The Amy Winehouse influence is in full effect. I think it works for her, though a little schreechy in the high range, and I don't understand her shimmy moves.

Matt Breitzke: Perfect song pick for this guy. Wow. Blue Collar bros unite! In the end I don't think he has enough to pull through, but he's calm and in his own skin, which is more than many of these peeps have had tonight.

Jesse Langseth: Lean much? This is not a great vocal song. But she's selling it as best as she can. She's a little weird. She's got Bette CRAZY eyes...

Kai Kalama: His hair has got to change. He's like Simply Red in black and white. No. Borrrrrrring. He had control of his voice the whole time, much more than other contestants, until the end notes, but man, who cares?

Mishavonna Henson: She was great in The Incredibles. And the Addams Family. But I like her. I was gonna say she looked like a muppet too but then with her last name of Henson I thought that might be in bad taste. I think this is a great pick for her, because she is awfully confident and pretty darn good. I wish the song didn't climax in a nah nah nah moment. Great job.

Adam Lambert: That keyboard is bruuuuutal. He looks like Jason Bateman on crack. That upper register is just plain scary. But man, he can control it. Sheeeesh.

Random Thoughts: I know that they are really trying to tweak the formula here, but man, the pressure of the odds here is really seeming to be getting to the contestants. Most of them will not get through tomorrow, and as a result, everyone is out of breath and not able to execute, and it ironically ends up stressing them out, as opposed to the "old way" where they could build stamina and confidence week after week. Can't win for losing I guess. Did Paula just name drop Glen Ballard and Seidah Garrett?

So who's getting in? I'm in for ADAM, ALLISON, and MEGAN.

Jack and the Beanstalk! EPIC JR. Theatre Company!

I couldn't be more excited about the brand new EPIC (jr.) THEATRE company production, JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. It's a great interactive kids show that is theatre performed by adults just for kids. It runs this Saturday, February 28th at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM and also next Saturday, March 7th at 9:00 AM and 11:00 AM at the Naperville Yellow Box. Bring $5 a person, and you're in for a great time. And since I have the right connections, I decided to interview one of the co-directors so that I could find out even more about this great show. It turns out that the co-director I am interviewing is also my lovely wife, Kristi. Here's what she had to say about the show:

Eric: Pretend I don't know anything about JACK AND THE BEANSTALK. What would you tell me about the plot?

Kristi: It's not hard to pretend that you don't remember that story, you don't remember what happened yesterday. Anyway, Jack gets some magic beans in exchange for his cow that he loves dearly. He and his mother have nothing left to eat – they are going through some tough times.

Eric: Tough Times? That sounds familiar - almost like the BIG IDEA series we are in right now with Adults, Students, and Kids...?

Kristi: Yes, It’s a great way to experience the BIG IDEA in a new way and a wonderful opportunity to bring friends from the neighborhood to church, without necessarily bringing them to church. It's why EPIC THEATRE exists.

Eric: So how long is the play? Is it good for little kids? And is it fun?

Kristi: Kids of all ages would enjoy it – adults too! It’s not a long show – about 45 minutes, and this version is different than the old familiar story – there are some unexpected twists and some majorly interactive features.

Eric: Can you give a sneak peek of at least one of those features for my blog readers?

Kristi: I won't give it away, but here’s a clue on one of the interactive moments – a dance that is a favorite at weddings – we’ll have the place jumping.

Eric: That sounds awesome! So what's the best part about being married to me?

Kristi: My husband markets the shows I direct and takes good care of me when I’m crazy.

Eric: I'll take that!

Come see the show THIS SATURDAY!!! You won't regret it, grab the minivan and bring the neighborhood!!!

Links that Make You Think

Well, this weekend has apparently been crowned the "Eric tries to humbly take over cyberspace" weekend. On Saturday I learned that my article on The Big Idea was published by Rick Warren and his "pastor's toolbox" - and you can read that by clicking this link...

And then this morning I received my "Eq[u]ip" email newsletter from Willow Creek Arts movement, and found an article I wrote on the state of theatre in the church. It's companion piece is written by Willow Creek drama guru Steve Pederson. Check out Steve's article here, and check out my "response" to his article by clicking this link.

Also, you can sign up for monthly Eq[u]ip newsletters by visiting this web page.

Fun, huh? Let me know what you think...

Have you registered for the Willow Creek Arts Conference yet? It's going to be a hoot! Find out more by clicking this final link of my post.

American Idle - a third of the third of the third?

It's time my friends, for the first round of the semis, where they take the top girl, top guy, and the third wheel, and that's it. And then I guess they do that for the first three weeks, which gives you nine, and then they take 3 more on later in some kind of wildcard week. Math.

Here are my random thoughts as they come through, totally unfiltered by the judges comments, as I write these before they have a chance to influence my opinions.

JACKIE TOHN: Forced. If Janis Joplin turned into a hip-hop artist rapping Elvis. No vocal. Costume eeks.

RICKY BRADDY: He's not bad but forgettable, which is probably why he wasn't featured too much in the docudrama weeks.

ALEXIS GRACE: White soul, not bad at all, though I think this is the absolute top of her range, and I'm not sure it will be enough. The "sexiness-ish" stuff seemed a bit put on.

BRENT KEITH: I think he has some star potential. My only block is how much I truly despise country music. My problem, not his.

STEVIE WRIGHT: Pushing, out of breath. Can't afford to be this nervous little one. How in the world will Paula put a good spin on this one?

ANOOP DESAI: went to the White Castle and bought a voice. Song was kind of meh. But he can sing. Just have to stop with the Noop dogg thing. That could drive me crazy.

CASEY CARLSON: Wow, that was bad. I thought her winking had developed into some kind of irreversible tick. Her eyelashes were trying to run for cover from being belted by her cheekbones. Bye bye.

MICHAEL SARVER: I am over the embroidered pattern shirts. I'd rather have youth-pastor-goatees back then to have to look at one more circular pattern off to the side of a shirt. Yes, I'm an old fart. Oh yeah, and he was kind of bland. And sharp on occasion. Pushed way too hard.

ANN MARIE BOSKOVICH: She's doing an episode of Desperate Housewives where they flashback to their Karoake days in the late 90s. It was okay, but not great. Not memorable.

STEPHEN FOWLER: Not. Good. Enough. Even the BGVs were sharp. Disco is just not a good idea when you're trying to highlight your voice. You end up pushing, which is what he did.

TATIANA DEL TORO: This is a good pick for the crazy one, given the lyrics. Ironically her biggest problem was the reserved lower register portions of the verse. Cracked a bit and ran out of gas at the end. The rest of the pack was so bad that she might just come in third.

DANNY GOKEY: You gotta love his wedding ring still on. Only problem with this pick is that not being written for a man, the range of the song is not impressive, in the same way that it is when a female sings it. But as it relates to tying people emotionally to his story and keeping it alive, it was a very great pick and a great ending for the show - he should breeze by the competition. (and please lose the design print shirts...)

RANDOM THOUGHTS: What's with the cubic zirconi-microphones? Simon says "she shouldn't have been allowed to sing this song" - I wonder when the song choice becomes the art, and if the two should be interminably linked? And what's up with the parents/family in the red room? How uncomfortable is it to have Simon railing on your kid while you sit there and squirm. Any protective parent worth their salt would have decked him by now.

A Good Reminder (a good reminder)

Over the course of my twelve year tenure at Community Christian, I've been reminded every now and then about the success (in moderation) of reruns. This weekend was no exception, as we focused on generosity, and tried to knock down defenses through comedy.

We often will pursue new ideas and push ourselves to try and create something "truly unique" (nothing new under the sun...), and sometimes we'll reminisce about "back in the day" when we did something special. And sometimes we'll choose not to "Rerun" something simply because we're convinced that others have seen it. And in seeing it again, they will be disgusted with our general lack of creativity.

The reality is that most attenders, even the regular ones, might miss one or two weekends a month. That's just life. And the video in question (that we ended up remaking for this weekend) was shown ONCE, in October of 2002.

What were you doing in October of 2002? Even though I feel like it was yesterday, the reality is, if the idea can work again, you should at least consider it. It would have been a miss to show the original version from 2002, because so many people have come and gone and it just would have looked old. So, we re-made it. Don't be afraid to at least consider dusting an old idea off and see if it has some shelf life. Judging by the reactions I've already received from attenders, I would have to say that this one had some shelf life in it, even a parody from a song written in 1985.

And here it is: We Are the Church. Parody lyrics by Elic Bramlett (one of his earliest contributions to our staff), lead vocals by Dave Ferguson, myself and Elic (the two of us playing 11 different celebrities) and chorus by your 2009 All-staff at Community Christian. Enjoy the madness.

StuCo - Blast Weekend!

For those of you who may not know, our StuCo (student community) team gathers a truckload of kids and takes them every year to the Wisconsin Dells for a great retreat called "Blast!"  - and that it is - several years ago Elic and I went to Blast to do some improv comedy for the main sessions. It was a lot of fun. Too bad no one will ever see it, since the technology back then wasn't as advanced as it is today.

Speaking of today's technology: Tonight, from the comfort of your own computer, you can view the large group event LIVE ONLINE.

Showtimes for the live feed are as follows:

• Friday, 9:15pm
• Saturday, 7pm
• Sunday, 9am and 7pm

Go here to be ready to experience it: http://www.communitychristian.org/blast

Way to go StuCo!

Secret Christians on American Idol

Here's a great post from Stuff Christians Like regarding rooting for secret Christians on American Idol. I think the Widower is one for sure. Anyone else? Check it out:

Rooting For Secret Christians On American Idol

Your Top 36

Well, this week gave us the final days of Hollywood week, and I have to say I was thoroughly entertained. I thought the editors and directors did a great job of showing us as many stories as they possibly could during the time they had. 3 hours this week was plenty to whittle it down. I also think that they have probably the most diverse group of people as a result. Or at least, it seems like it to me.

Let's see, you've got the blind guy, the crazy girl (and look out, cause it turns out that she can actually sing), the widower (without his best friend), the teen-queen who overdosed on headbands, the Puerto Rican, the piano player, the not-pretty blond who beat out the pretty one, several mature 16 year olds, and my personal favorite, the "funny guy." I'm not sure yet whether or not he's actually funny, but after seven years, I think it's fascinating that someone has emerged who the judges can't deny has singing potential but who also apes and opening mocks the show's penchant for highlighting attention-getting freaks who can't sing. He's doing a bit, and it's somehow working. It's going to be very interesting to see how America gages his success.

It will also be interesting to see if I can learn 36 names instead of monikers.

And so we move onto a different semi-finals round, and I'm still not exactly sure how it goes or works, but I suppose they will explain that to me next week. American Idol moves on!

UPDATE: as Pat points out in the comment section, Joanna Pacitti has been let go and declared ineligible - seems odd considering that they had to have known earlier, even Kara knew who she was during the first phase of auditioning... Here's the article which features her old video...

Breaking Up With Bill

Week 2 of "Chasing the Almighty" gave us the challenge of being "free" from the almighty dollar, and to absurdly illustrate what we meant when we said you had to "break up" with money, we made an absurdly illustrative video. Enjoy!