Okay, we will!

So, Orin and Erin went to St. Henry's in Belleville, IL for their lenten fish-fry yesterday. Oddwalk played a concert there earlier this year, and Erin was planning the evening as a social night for Belleville Young Adult Ministry.

Anyway, here's a picture of the menu-board:

Why? Well, what caught Orin's eye was the catch-phrase near the bottom, "Try our fish." Seemed a bit odd, at a fish-fry and all. Orin asked a worker there, someone he knows from ministry at the Shrine, who replied, "I guess it's good PR." Perhaps. The fish was good, after all.

Usually in humor is a hint of truth

I might preface this joke two ways: 1) Aquinas Institute is a Domincan school, and 2) It's possibly only Orin finds this funny.

Saints Dominic, Francis and Ignatius of Loyola are transported back in time and place to the Birth of Our Lord.

St. Dominic, seeing the Incarnation of the Word, is sent into ecstasy.

St. Francis, seeing God become a helpless child, is overcome with humility.

St. Ignatius of Loyola takes St. Joseph and Our Lady aside and asks "Have you given any thought to His education?"

"Tricked-out Toilet" is more alliterative

Seriously.

This toilet-sweepstakes is indicative (symptomatic?) of the American lifestyle, and says a lot about how a lot of non-Americans view us and how we live. Can you name a few?

We like this concept

Found on one of the groups Oddwalk belongs to over at facebook:


Another facebook group we belong to: The keytar to my heart.

A facebook group we've created: Behold, the Oddwalk Keytar.

The end.

A little Jeff City Keytar Mystique

Some participants help with the big keytar solo

Striking the final pose

Pope Mangooooooooo!

I'm pretty sure this animation has no end. It does, however, have a pope made out of a delicious fruit.

Mangooooooooooo!

Once, Always

There are some, ahem, inaccuracies in the joke, but it's still funny!

---

John Smith was the only Protestant to move into a large Catholic neighborhood. On the first Friday of Lent, John was outside grilling a big juicy steak on his grill.

Meanwhile, all of his neighbors were eating cold tuna fish for supper.

This went on each Friday of Lent. On the last Friday of Lent, the neighborhood men got together and decided that something had to be done about John, he was tempting them to eat meat each Friday of Lent, and they couldn't take it anymore.

They decided to try and convert John to be a Catholic. They went over and talked to him and were so happy that he decided to join all of his neighbors and become a Catholic. They took him to church, and the Priest sprinkled some water over him and said, "You were born a Baptist, you were raised a Baptist, and now you are a Catholic."

The men were so relieved, now their biggest Lenten temptation was resolved.

The next year's Lenten season rolled around. The first Friday of Lent came, and just at supper time, when the neighborhood was sitting down to their tuna fish dinner, came the wafting smell of steak cooking on a grill.

The neighborhood men could not believe their noses! WHAT WAS GOING ON?

They called each other up and decided to meet over in John's yard to see if he had forgotten it was the first Friday of Lent?

The group arrived just in time to see John standing over his grill with a small pitcher of water. He was sprinkling some water over his steak on the grill, saying, "You were born a cow, you were raised a cow, and now you are a fish."

A funny exchange

in a combox of another blog Orin occasionally checks out:

Noah + Sombrero + Digital Camera = FUNNY!

pOddcast - "Just Because" Demo

The night it was written, October 23, 2004, Oddwalk recorded a verse of "Just Becuase You Can" on Orin's Treo so they'd remember how it went the next day. The next day was Oddwalk's first official public appearance as Oddwalk, at the Diocese of New Ulm, MN, Junior High Youth Rally - it was also the first performance of "Just Because." Enjoy this archival material on the pOddcast - check the gcast window to listen or subscribe!

PS - If you listen closely, Shannon's groan at the end is in response to more Red Sox offense during the 2004 World Series, played against the St. Louis Cardinals... We were keeping an eye on the game on the TV in the hotel room.

indexed

At indexed, Jessica has little charts and graphs that help explain the world. Like this timely one:

One of These Things is Not Like the Other...

Some of you might have noticed that Orin has been writing a lot of the blog posts in recent weeks. I've been on the go quite a bit lately with family obligations, my work at St. Peters, my ministry with Oddwalk, and lots of other things I just can't bring myself to say no to. I sometimes justify the busyness by telling myself that these things are for Christ and His Church. I know better, though. What's more? It's Lent. Lent is supposed to (in part) be a time for us to slow down and focus on our relationship with God. I, however, seem to have quickened my pace and crammed more into my schedule than I normally do.

The picture above was taken in a back hallway at the Cathedral of St. Joseph in Jefferson City on Sunday. Normally it wouldn't have caught my eye, but it does such a great job encapsulating the way I feel about my own spirital life lately.

For those of us who work for the Church (volunteer or otherwise), much of our time is spent trying desperately to help other people build their relationship with God and the Church. Sometimes, in our dedication, it's easy to forget our own spiritual needs and the importance of setting our faith in God above everything else in our lives.

If this could be your story too, don't worry. Jesus actually talked about people like us in the Gospel of Luke. If you wish, take some time to read through this passage and meditate on who you are in this story and pray about where Christ is calling you to be:

As they continued their journey he entered a village where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him. She had a sister named Mary who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak. Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said, "Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving? Tell her to help me." The Lord said to her in reply, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her."
-Luke 11:38-42

I know who I am
-Shannon

biblemap.org

A nice blending of the bible with google maps! Get an idea just where some of those biblical events actually happened, especially in relation to one another.

www.biblemap.org

The iRack

Orin is not a fan of MadTV in general, but this sketch is pretty funny. Thanks to Katie Press for the tip!

The Oddwalk Limerick Song

At the Belleville, IL DYC this past saturday, Oddwalk unveiled a new song in honor of St. Patrick's day, "The Oddwalk Limerick Song." Between the sing-a-long refrains there were some general and some specific-to-the-occasion verses that read a little like this:

A macho young swimmer named Dwyer
He really liked playing with fire.
One night in the dark
He swam with a shark,
And his voice is now two octaves higher.

An elderly man named Keith
Mislaid his set of false teeth.
They'd been laid on a chair,
He forgot they were there,
Sat down, and was bitten beneath.

There was a young man from Japan
Whose limericks never would scan.
When they asked why,
He said, with a sigh,
"It's because I always try to get as many words into the last line as I possible can."

SHANNON:
Orin thinks he's so cool.
His keytar makes everyone drool.
But I know it's folly,
He still sleeps with his dolly,
And wears floaties when he's in the pool.

ORIN:
Sometimes Shannon's voice makes me ill
And grates like a dentist's old drill.
But the people all long
For the gorilla song,
SHANNON:
Hey, whatever pays the bills.

ORIN:
Brad and Gene sure like to juggle.
But gravity's always a struggle.
Their act is a hoot,
And they're both really cute,
So ----
SHANNON:
Orin, don't end this last line with "snuggle!"

Cubefield

A simple, potentially-addicting flash game on the web.

Clicky here to play!

Happy Pi Day!

3.1415926535897932384626433832795028841971693993751058209749445923078164062862089986280348253421170679 8214808651328230664709384460955058223172535940812848111745028410270193852110555964462294895493038196 4428810975665933446128475648233786783165271201909145648566923460348610454326648213393607260249141273 724587006606315588174881520920962829254091715364367892590360011330530548820466521384146951941511609...

A Borat Keytar Sighting

While we won't link to the video for content reasons, we thought we'd better point out that the keytar continues to permeate pop culture — here, Borat is "playing" (as did Justin Timberlake, ick) the same model Orin has, the Roland AX-7.

This keytar moment exists as part of an ad for the Borat movie soundtrack.

It references this slightly-racy but clean video of Belinda Bedekovic playing a Yamaha KX-5. She seems European. Just a sense.

Should you watch the Belinda video, I'd like to point out that she, while awesome, isn't actually wearing the keytar!

Yes, Orin is a bit ashamed he knows all this.

pOddcast: Old Irish Blessing

Just in time for St. Patrick's Day - Orin's setting of a not-usual but still traditional Old Irish Blessing, as recorded on our Oddwalk CD "Little Steps" — enjoy! You can find it posted in the Gcast window in the sidebar, or on the pOddcast page of our main site, or a few other random places (those links over in the sidebar too).

To subscribe to our pOddcast, click the (you guessed it) "Get Podcast" button on the Gcast player - make sure your browser supports pop-ups, at least this one time. You'll see a page with several options to get our podcast, including iTunes.

Even B16 weighs in

Doesn't seem like he grew up in the 80's either:

Who's that handsome man?

Who's that handsome man pretending to be Pilate at the Shrine of Our Lady of the Snows's outdoor stations during Holy Week?

"Of course, I was there at the trial..."

And before anyone else says it, it's not the one holding the microphone...

We have a new spokesbaby!

keytar

We have a new spokeswoman!

keytar

Mmm, sweet post-keytar-solo residue in a fashionable spray bottle

Announcing a new product from Oddwalk Ministries:


Keytar Mystique: the fragrance.

What the critics are saying:
Hair spray. Sweat. "Like someone throwing up and sneezing at the same time."

Better than any of those crappy Britney Spears perfumes.

Available at the finest department stores. At present, none are fine enough to meet our high standards.

Justin Timberlake, you may not buy any. Ever. Go away.

---

[You know you wish this was real.]

Hint: he's wearing a burgandy shirt

So, Orin's image finally made it on to the Aquinas Institute of Theology website. While not the focus of the image, he's at least glad that there is some visual record of his ever being there.

Can you find him?

Here's the original page.

Here's our post from a long time ago when Orin's wife made the website. Not that he's bitter or anything.

We're Certain Too

From the Cerneka Family Adventures, regarding Shannon and Erin's daughter Madeleine:

---

I'm certain she's brilliant

And here's proof:

Madeleine: Hi Mommy! I'm hiding.

Me [Erin, the Mommy]: Hiding from who?
Madeleine: From you!

A Fun Popple Puzzle

What is unique about this number?





Visit our friends at Popple to find out (check in the comments)!

Another (Disgusting) Keytar Sighting

Apparently because Oddwalk stole from Justin Timberlake the little hand-motion move we do for the phrase "move into my heart" on "For All Time", he felt it necessary to steal from Oddwalk the whole keytar-mystique thing.


[or watch it here]


That's right, we said "keytar mystique."

I'm sure he'll be stealing our words soon too. Well, stop it Justin. It's obvious from your pathetic keytar exhibition that you did not grow up in the 80's. It's doubtful that you'll ever fully understand the glories of the Roland AX-7 that you're completely wasting on stage — a keytar should never be used a prop!

You disgust us.

Therefore, Oddwalk proudly today trademarks the phrase.

"Keytar Mystique"™

So there.

Let the Children Come to Me

Jammin' With Jesus

A well-worn Oddwalk Shirt

Belonging to Dakota, a youth of St. mary's Parish in Mt. Vernon, IL:

An interesting "Lenten Penance" - Becoming a bag lady

Oddwalk's friend - and Orin's cow-orker at the Shine - Erin Simmons







(that's right another Erin, just for confusion's sake)

Anyway, she has taken up an interesting "Lenten Penance" — read her words:

For the 40 days of preparation before Holy Week, I am giving up packaged goods. And by "giving up," I mean the following.

A) Avoid any packaged products. Whenever that's UNavoidable, buy the product with the least amount of packaging and/or recyclable packaging.
i) this will increase my familiarity with more earth-friendly products/companies/disctributors
ii) acts as deterrent to over-purchase
iii) will familiarize me with local goods (i.e. farmer's markets, local cooperatives)

B) Be accountable for whatever I do end up purchasing/wasting by CARRYING IT AROUND WITH ME IN A BAG.
i) this serves as incentive to purchase as few packaged goods as possible
ii) it serves as a conversation starter to any curious onlookers (e.g. evangelism, crazy earth-warrior speech)

EXCEPTION: I am NOT carrying around anything toxic, noxious, smelly or diseased. That means food, toilet paper, etc. are going where they belong...in the REAL trash. I'm just not that extreme and I do have limits on what I will give up. Along with that, I will contemplate what it means to live simply, to purchase responsibly, and to activate others to live more conscientiously. As you may know, I am the coordinator for my workplace's Earth Day celebrations so this may spark some more ideas, at least give me some experience at doing something visibly different. I'll be doing some research into how much garbage waste the average American produces.

Read more here!

They better have

From our friends Jason and Corinne's blog about adopting their new baby girl, Miriam, in China:

We Tipped the Maid Well

Poop report: her third was in the bathtub.

Posted at 06:01 AM

Sorry, can't link to their blog, it's password-protected.

We get all sorts of visitors...

One of the ways our Oddblog SiteMeter helps us is (sometims) it can tell us how a visitor got to our site. A day or two ago, a visitor stopped by because of an interesting google search:


For those of you who missed it the first time, here's a hint,


and click here for the original post. (Check in the comments to find the search terms.)

(PS - She looks a lot better - and happier - now...)

Not our usual fare, but it sounds *so* right...

VATICAN CITY, FEB. 28, 2007 (Zenit.org) - The Antichrist is the reduction of Christianity to an ideology, instead of a personal encounter with the Savior, says the cardinal directing the retreat which Benedict XVI is attending.

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, retired archbishop of Bologna, delivered that message during a meditation Tuesday, drawing on the work of Russian philosopher Vladimir Sergeyevich Solovyov.

Read more here.

If Jack Nicholson and Marcia Cross had a baby...

If Henry Kissenger and Shania Twain had a baby...