Sunday, June 19, 2011
Making Darryl proud...
Ok, some news about my latest solo performance. I have been sitting with this for the past week. Time to come clean, and to tell Darryl that he is absolutely critical to this whole singing/performing thing. My goodness. So true.
I was asked to sing at the farewell celebration for Jim Shantz (Mennonite Church Alberta Conference Pastor). It was a wonderful afternoon, and I'm so glad that Jim was honoured and appreciated for his years of service in Alberta. I was asked to sing a few songs during the program, and to highlight MCC's work with AIDS. Abe was also invited to speak about the work of MCC, and to invite donations. The day before the farewell, I picked up my relatively new guitar, intending to go through the songs I was planning to sing. A string broke. No big deal, right? I'll just put on new strings, except I had none. It was almost 5:30 pm. I rushed out to Guitarworks, close to our house, knowing that it closed at 6, only to find it had moved to a new location. So, I drove as fast as I safely could to the next nearest store and fortunately was able to buy a pack of strings. Came home, de-stringed, and as I was about to put on new strings, realized the part by the hole of the guitar that keeps the strings in place, had fallen off (my ignorance is glaring in terms of the correct names for guitar parts). I was a bit panicked at this point. I would not be able to use my new guitar. Instead I ended up having to use a guitar that was a bit "iffy" to say the least, and the strap kept spontaneously coming undone. Anyway, at noon the next day I left for the farewell.
Once I got there I realized that I had forgotten all of the cds at home, as well as brochures, and the flashdrive that I needed to show some images from Cycle for Life. I called my daughter Jess, who agreed to bike to the church and bring over the stuff. Her bike broke down half way there. I called my dad. He came to the rescue and brought the cds and brochures. I forgot to tell him about the flashdrive. Jess managed to fix her bike and bring the flashdrive. Still feeling a bit panicked and completely unprepared, I approached the mic, guitar firmly in hand, hoping the strap would stay in place. When I got to the front, I saw that the mic was too low, the music stand too high, and I needed to do something. So, I leaned over to raise the mic. The guitar strings on the end of the guitar, which were wrapped neatly in a little circle, got caught on a nob on the mic stand. I did not notice this and I stood up. The mic stand wobbled and made way too much noise. I panicked. The other end of the guitar hit the music stand. It too began to wobble. Doug Klassen shot up to help untangle the guitar string from the mic stand. We got everything settled, and so I played the first chord to the first song, only to realize that my guitar was now out of tune. I took the capo off to tune the guitar, and dropped the capo on the floor. Once again, Doug shot up to help. Things were not going well. Still needing to adjust the music stand I leaned over one more time, guitar knocking the stand....and on it went.
In the end, I managed to tune the guitar, sing a few songs, and hopefully honour Jim. Humbling to say the least. Darryl, I don't really enjoy the solo stuff. Just for the record.
I was asked to sing at the farewell celebration for Jim Shantz (Mennonite Church Alberta Conference Pastor). It was a wonderful afternoon, and I'm so glad that Jim was honoured and appreciated for his years of service in Alberta. I was asked to sing a few songs during the program, and to highlight MCC's work with AIDS. Abe was also invited to speak about the work of MCC, and to invite donations. The day before the farewell, I picked up my relatively new guitar, intending to go through the songs I was planning to sing. A string broke. No big deal, right? I'll just put on new strings, except I had none. It was almost 5:30 pm. I rushed out to Guitarworks, close to our house, knowing that it closed at 6, only to find it had moved to a new location. So, I drove as fast as I safely could to the next nearest store and fortunately was able to buy a pack of strings. Came home, de-stringed, and as I was about to put on new strings, realized the part by the hole of the guitar that keeps the strings in place, had fallen off (my ignorance is glaring in terms of the correct names for guitar parts). I was a bit panicked at this point. I would not be able to use my new guitar. Instead I ended up having to use a guitar that was a bit "iffy" to say the least, and the strap kept spontaneously coming undone. Anyway, at noon the next day I left for the farewell.
Once I got there I realized that I had forgotten all of the cds at home, as well as brochures, and the flashdrive that I needed to show some images from Cycle for Life. I called my daughter Jess, who agreed to bike to the church and bring over the stuff. Her bike broke down half way there. I called my dad. He came to the rescue and brought the cds and brochures. I forgot to tell him about the flashdrive. Jess managed to fix her bike and bring the flashdrive. Still feeling a bit panicked and completely unprepared, I approached the mic, guitar firmly in hand, hoping the strap would stay in place. When I got to the front, I saw that the mic was too low, the music stand too high, and I needed to do something. So, I leaned over to raise the mic. The guitar strings on the end of the guitar, which were wrapped neatly in a little circle, got caught on a nob on the mic stand. I did not notice this and I stood up. The mic stand wobbled and made way too much noise. I panicked. The other end of the guitar hit the music stand. It too began to wobble. Doug Klassen shot up to help untangle the guitar string from the mic stand. We got everything settled, and so I played the first chord to the first song, only to realize that my guitar was now out of tune. I took the capo off to tune the guitar, and dropped the capo on the floor. Once again, Doug shot up to help. Things were not going well. Still needing to adjust the music stand I leaned over one more time, guitar knocking the stand....and on it went.
In the end, I managed to tune the guitar, sing a few songs, and hopefully honour Jim. Humbling to say the least. Darryl, I don't really enjoy the solo stuff. Just for the record.
It's been a long, long while
Hi everyone. Sorry for the silence this past while. We have had a busy few weeks. Lots of presentations on the Cycle for Life part one Kenya trip, and getting ready for part two of Cycle for Life. This Friday, June 24th, me, Adam, John, Abe and 40 Menno Simons Christian School junior high students and staff will kick off the Alberta portion of Cycle for Life by riding from the school to Fish Creek Park, about 40 kms, have a hot dog roast, and after that head north to LaCrete! 1450 kms here we come!
Updates and photos can be read/seen on the Cycle for Life blog, but we might put some info up on this blog too. In any case, we hope you read, follow, enjoy and pray for the safety of the riders and support team, and that the trip will raise awareness and funds for MCC's work with AIDS.
Updates and photos can be read/seen on the Cycle for Life blog, but we might put some info up on this blog too. In any case, we hope you read, follow, enjoy and pray for the safety of the riders and support team, and that the trip will raise awareness and funds for MCC's work with AIDS.
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