A Hippo and His Curious Joy

Courtesy of Gene from APeX Ministries. Enjoy!

Let me see!

Pray for Orin's Dad

Please keep Orin's Dad in prayer - while Oddwalk was in Atlanta to NCYC, he suffered a mild heart attack. There is no apparant damage to the heart, and he will be having two stents put in tomorrow morning to help solve some blockage issues. He feels fine, and should be home tomorrow night. There are some other health concerns, but what could have been horrible is actually about as good as could be hoped for. He is 80 years old, but is strong and vital still. This was a bit of a surprise, but could have been much worse.

Thanks everyone.

NCYC Update #4

Phew.

What a great long day, a great long weekend. The obvious highlight of our day was being a part of the Comedy Club: "God You Crack Me Up!" this afternoon, along with emcees APeX, and performers Over the Top, and Stooge 4 Christ. What a great chance to have fun and entertain about 5,000 youth and adults from around the country. Thanks to Chris from "Iowa" (D.C. really) for being a good sport and the best "Stinky Chris" ever.

A word of apprecation to all the folks from all around the country who came to see us on stages or at the booth, and to those who stopped to have conversations with us. We hope to see you all again soon, maybe at your parish, school, or diocesan event. Thanks too to all who supported our ministry and our visit to NCYC by purchasing CDs and other stuff.

Thanks to Edwin for being a good moving poof-ball target. Thanks to Ryan Myers, Sarah Bauer, Chris Padgett, Mike Patin, APeX, lots of youth ministers, diocesan ministers, volunteers... all the many ministers and friends we had the chance to share some time with, and re-connect with.

If you were there in any capacity, thanks to you, our ministry is literally nothing without all of you. God bless, and safe travels back home.

Back to Missouri tomorrow.

NCYC Update #3

This will probably become known as the infamous "Disco Clap" post. This is not what we mean by "Disco Clap" but is still pretty weird.

PS - Hi Marianne, this post's for you.

NCYC Update #2

It's friday morning, and yesterday was a lot of fun! We got to me so many people from around the country, and Orin was excited to see a couple folks from his home area of Tyler/Lake Benton Minnesota. Reconnecting with old friends is always one of the nicest parts of conferences like these.

We heard a lot of stories about really long bus rides, smooth flights, and saw a lot of people wearing a lot of weird things: tie-dye, flamingo hats, crustacean hats, oompa-loompas, several saints and angels... I guess it wouldn't be NCYC without them!

Our first performance opportunity is today at noon, and we're thrilled. Wish us luck!

NCYC Update #1

Gearing up for NCYC

Oddwalk is getting excited about our trip to see 17,000 Catholic youth at NCYC! We hope to meet as many of you as we can during our time there, and hope you get to hear some of our music and stories too.

One thing I'm looking forward to is the drive - really! It's been 7 years or so since I've drive through the part of the country between St. Louis and Atlanta. I spent 2 years in SW Virginia at school, and am looking forward to seeing that part of the country again - hopefully the fall colors are timed just right!

Until later - Orin

Oddwalk visits St. Margaret of Scotland School

Hey everybody,

Oddwalk had a great time this afternoon at St. Margaret of Scotland in the Shaw neighborhood of St. Louis, Orin's neck of the woods. Sharing stories of faith, fathers, scars, and mission, the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders seemed to find the spirit of Participation, Community and Mission.

Neither of us were really sure who she was, so let's all read up:
St. Margaret of Scotland

Thanks to Peter Hesed for arranging many of the details of our visit, and thanks to the teachers and youth for being willing to host us and so willing to be a part of our presentation. Thanks to Karl (Carl?) for outstanding (?) "Lord I Lift Your Name on High" leadership.

While this is Orin's parish geographically, he seldom gets to visit due to Shrine obligations; so it was particularly special to make this visit today.

Thanks again, St. Margarets!

When you get to the stop sign first...

...you get to go first.


In Missouri that's how it works, anyway. I guess most people in my neighborhood never learned that.

(I'm sure everyone in the neighborhood reads this blog frequently too. Right.)

-Orin

My Nominee for Best Quote about NLCS Game 5

"When that ball flew over our heads, I turned to Mike Mason, our bullpen coach, and said, 'That's why they pay that guy 100 million bucks.' ”

— Cardinals reliever Ray King, who was in the bullpen

From this great article at ESPN.com

-Orin

New (baseball-type) Hope!

Did you see how far he hit that ball last night - holy cwap.

When watching sports at home, I've jumped out of my seat exactly twice in my life:

1) The last-second tackle by Jones that won the Rams the Superbowl

2) Pujols' homer last night.

Go Cards - Oddwalk *will* be in attendance at Game 7. We will.

-Orin

Don't do this to us again...

*sigh* Cardinals, you can come back, right?

Daddyhood

On Sunday, my daughter, Madeleine, turns one year old.  Parents often say things like this, but it doesn't seem like it's been a year.  I've watched her grow from a tiny, helpless, wrinkled infant, to a grinning, adorable, walking, mischievous toddler.  I know that there are many more changes in store, and if they're anything like the ones I've already seen, I can't wait.  I could probably write a lot more about all of this, but I don't think I'd know where to stop.  I just like being a daddy.  That's all.

 

-Shannon

Behold My Keytar, and Weep

I am now the proud owner of a "keytar" - the Yamaha SHS-10, from the mid-80's. (That's a cartoon-drawing of it in the pic. Shannon had one many many years ago too.) Mostly for use at home with my computer/composing/recording setup, but don't be too shocked if it comes along for some random appearances from time to time. Plucked it off of ebay for probably too much $$, but was probably paying for a bit of "kitsch value" too. Kitsch, is of course, in the eye of the beholder...

I'm pleased to learn that HSR is aware of the keytar culture (so to speak) too. Did you know there is a wikipedia site just for HSR stuff? That's where the picture is from, and where the title-link takes you. UrbanDictionary.com is also a useful site.

Keytars are awesome, don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

-Orin

Intelligent design?

Read this.

I hope that's not offensive to anyone, I just find it really funny.

-Orin

Source and Summit

"Taking part in the eucharistic sacrifice, which is the fount and apex of the whole Christian life, they offer the Divine Victim to God, and offer themselves along with It." (paragraph 11)

Lumen Gentium

So, the oft-used phrase "source and summit" or "font and apex" - what is this we refer to, the Eucharist (i.e. the consecrated host)? No, rather, the eucharistic sacrifice. The sacrifice of thanksgiving, the Mass. The ritual action, not the noun. The ritual action that gathers, breaks open (Christ present in Gospel, and bread/wine become body/blood) shares, and sends. The celebration that calls us to "Participation, Community, and Mission."

Just an observation.

Fun Website

I don't know that Oddwalk really is better than oatmeal, or that if we were we'd hear about it from such an authoritative source (such as the Almighty), but I thought at least the concept was innocuous enough.
Clicky to create your own...

End of an era

As the last of the fireworks exploded, and my family and I walked out of Busch Stadium yesterday, I couldn't help but feel like I was losing a part of myself.  Professional baseball stadiums shouldn't rank very high on the list of significant losses in our lives.  I understand that.  Still, many of the most exciting moments of my life are kept in a ballpark that will be torn down a few days after the Cardinals finish their season this year.  These include: watching Vince Coleman stealing bases at will, Ozzie Smith doing a back flip each opening day.  Jim Edmonds robbing an opponent of an extra-base hit with a spectacular catch, standing in awe as Mark McGwire hit a 565 ft. home run, and recently cheering wildly as David Eckstein hit a grand slam to win the game.  The list could go on and on.

 

Being able to attend the last regular-season game at Busch Stadium was a thrill.  Thanks again to my wife, Erin, for those tickets.  In my life, Busch Stadium went from being an imposing home of heroes, to a comfortable place where men played baseball at the highest level.  I am looking forward going to games in the new stadium, though.  I'm sure it will be great.  Who knows?  Maybe we'll even have a new World Championship flag to fly there.  For now... good-bye Busch Stadium.  Thanks for everything.

 

-Go Cards!