Wildlife At Dana Point

If you follow the 5 Freeway South until it reaches the coast you'll pretty much be at Dana Point. We have been there a few times to pass time while waiting for Daniel if he's only had to be at school for a couple of hours (it's nearby). We discovered plenty of wildlife there - especially squirrels. I imagine they eat pretty well from the scraps people leave behind, and so they are reasonably bold around people.

This little tortoise was about 6-7 inches long - just sunning himself on the bank. He wasn't so easy around people and I had to wait about half an hour and go back to the spot to get this shot after I scared him off the first time.

The rabbits and the squirrels don't mind hanging out together. I guess they probably eat similar stuff. These shots were all taken within 20 meters (yards if you prefer) of each other on the same day.

Eric Johnson in Concert

Yes indeed - I went to see Eric Johnson play live! Now that is a guitar player's dream for sure. I've been an Eric Johnson fan since the first day I heard his music (which was on one of those flexible plastic "records" that Guitar Player Magazine used to put in each month back in the '80's.) That was back in 1985 or 86. And the man is still getting better and better!

L-R: Eric Johnson, Tommy Taylor, Roscoe Beck

Eric's main pose...

Eric's other pose. Nah, just kidding... although there was a lot of this one all night! He's a guitar player not a choreographer.

Eric is famous for being an absolute, and I mean Absolute, purist when it comes to gear. This is his pedalboard - about as lo-tech as you could get. It must take hours to set up for a concert because he'd have to move each box and lead into the best position to minimize hum.

And out of the pedalboard into... a bunch more old stuff! But it sure did sound flippin' amazing!

Here's some live action. This is "Cliffs Of Dover", the song I originally heard back in the 80's. You'll see why I was hooked. If you have 10 minutes to spare watch the whole thing and see Eric doing freeform solo, if not jump in at 5:55 where the intro to the song starts.

The Crystal Cathedral Rocks

Well here's another experience I never could have foreseen a year ago - in fact even a week ago I never saw this coming! I got a phone call at about 4:40pm last Sunday afternoon from Kyle Bonenburger who is the Worship Leader with the contemporary worship band C3 at the Crystal Cathedral. They were about to play for the Traditional service at 6:30pm in the Crystal Cathedral and had just found out their guitar player wasn't going to make it. Kyle on a long shot called Grant Norsworthy in Nashville to ask him if he might know anyone in Orange County who could do a fill in at the last minute and Grant gave him my number. (Grant plays Bass with SONICFLOOd, and previously with Paul Colman Trio. I used to play in bands with Grant in Melbourne years ago.)

So... I got ready as soon as possible and got Ali and Daniel and Bryce to come too. We had about 20 minutes to soundcheck and rehearse so it was very rushed. This would have to be one of the worst rooms for rock'n'roll in the world! Just look at the pictures and you'll see why. It sounded like soup. Anyway, it was fun, and it happens to be the first church in Orange County that I've played at since coming to the US. Not a bad "first gig"!

The Crystal Cathedral with the Visitor's Center at the right.

From the inside of the Cathedral if you look up to your right you will see this. (You'll see a mirror image if you look up to your left.) It's pretty impressive!

This is the Pipe Organ. It's pretty impressive too.

Can you believe it? That's me playing in front of the massive organ pipes and next to the golden piano.
Just in case you couldn't believe it, here's a closer one! Even a golden piano must sit quietly in the presence of a blue guitar. Haha!

Thanks to Bryce for taking these shots for me.

Cool!

This door really caught my eye, and it didn't hurt that a pretty girl happened to be walking past!

I haven't quite figured out how they come up with the numbering for street addresses here in the US. I know there are not 31812 premises and houses on this street! Still, it's in keeping with the American way of making everything BIG and larger than life. Gotta love it.

Forgotten Moments

I just came across a bunch of photo's I had forgotten that I'd taken. How well a good image takes you back to a happy moment!

Hands Up! United Live stirring up some incredible worship times at Riverview's Big Weekend in November 2006.

Timon layering up an atmosphere.

This amazing painting is on the backstage wall at Riverview in Perth. The Visual Worship Team took a few hours one day and took video of them painting this wall and edited it down into an awesome clip of this unfolding scene. I don't know where it is now, but someone should post it on YouTube. The painting itself is incredible, but watching it come together in time lapse over 3 or 4 minutes is unbelievable!

Goodbye Ella

For the last eight years Ella has been part of our family. She came to us in the first week we moved to Perth and accompanied us here to Orange County. She has been Daniel's constant companion all that time, usually sleeping with him on, or in his bed.Unfortunately, 4 weeks ago at about 9pm on Sunday night, Ella wanted to go outside. She didn't come back in that night and we haven't seen her since.

Around that time we did see 3 or 4 posters on lamp posts around our neighborhood for missing cats. Also, there had been warnings of Coyote sightings in the area. I guess it's time to accept the obvious and say goodbye.

Not all that long ago, I got these shots of her lounging on a ledge outside our house. I think she was really enjoying living here. Ella is, and will be missed.

Joyce Meyer Conference in LA

Joyce preachin'!

A year ago I never would have thought I'd be playing guitar with Darlene and the Hillsong team for a Joyce Meyer Conference at the Staples Center in LA. But that's exactly what happened on 13th - 15th of July. Darlene called my mobile phone at about 3pm on the Thursday afternoon and asked if I could make it to LA to play with them that night. I rushed home and got my stuff together and then made the mad drive into LA at the crazy end of the day as far as traffic goes. I arrived at the venue 20 minutes before the start of the night (at 7pm) and plugged in and away we went. Talk about flying by the seat of my pants. Half the songs I had heard but never played before, but it went great. I ended up going in for the Friday and Saturday morning sessions as well. It was a great honor to be asked and it was a lot of fun too.

The preaching over the weekend was shared by Joyce Meyer and Brian Houston. They were both brilliant of course. Delirious did a special concert on the Friday night (which we couldn't make it to).

Marty and me.

Darlz in a familiar pose.
The Team sitting in a meeting: (R-L) Nigel, Gio, Rolph, Darlene, Bobbie.

Abe Laborial & Friends

One of the morning sessions at the Saddleback Worship and Creative Arts Conference was set aside for Abe Laboriel and Friends to lead us in worship. Abe had Sheila E on Drums, Kirk Whalum on Sax, Paul Jackson Jr on Guitar and Tom Brooks on Keys. A Superband if ever there was one! They set up some atmospheres and some cooking grooves and blazed over them with virtuosic improvisation. Truly amazing and inspiring. These are the guys I was so into about 15 to 20 years ago

In fact, Abe had another band way, way back called Koinonia. A band of incredible Christian musicians playing instrumental music par excellence. (Just as a side note - I met Hadley Hockensmith the other day. He just lives down the road from me. He was the guitarist in Koinonia and was an amazingly tasteful, melodic and soulful player. Still is I believe.)

Abe and Kirk Whalum - Wailing!

Paul Jackson Jr and Sheila E - she got off the drums to encourage some crowd participation at one point.

Paul Jackson Jr. playing in the Spirit.

Here's a video of Koinonia nearly 25 years ago featuring both Hadley and Abe. Both looked a lot younger then!

Vicki Beeching

This is Vicki Beeching, an English Worship Leader/Artist who hails from England. She's now living in Nashville and doing pretty well here in the States judging by the number of appearances she is putting in at Conferences, concerts and Seminars all over the country. And so she should be. She is a great songwriter with a great heart and a bubbly personality. (These pics were taken at the Saddleback Worship and Creative Arts Conference in June.)

Her latest album, Painting The Invisible, has had a good thrashing in our car over the last few months. Great stuff! Music following in the footsteps of Matt Redman and Tim Hughes with a great female voice. My favorite song is The Wonder Of The Cross which is a hymn she wrote in response to her Grandfather's prompting to write something he would like.

Here are some of Vicki's own words about her album:

“Trying to describe the Eternal using earthly words is like trying to scoop up the whole ocean into the palm of your hand. It’s like trying to count every star in the endless midnight sky. All of our words fall so short; every melody failing to capture the true beauty of the Heavenly.” So says Vicky Beeching, a fourth generation worship leader, music prodigy and Oxford-educated songwriter.

“When we write songs about God,” Vicky says, “though we see him in everything he has made, to some degree we are flying blind. With our limited human resources we are struggling to find ways to express something that is heavenly…that is Other. Yet because it is our passion, we can’t remain silent. So we search for words and melodies to describe Him. Hunting and rummaging into every corner of language and expression, raiding the closet of linguistics for a suitable outfit to clothe our feelings in words…we are describing the indescribable. We are ‘painting the invisible.’”

Newsong Cafe

From left to right: Brenton Brown, Vicki Beeching, Matt Maher, Michael Gungor, Tim Hughes.

Well this was certainly a treat! This was one of the breakout sessions at the Saddleback Worship and Creative Arts Conference back in June. Five great worship leaders and songwriters presenting a couple of songs each, telling the stories behind the songs and how they were written and then singing them raw and acoustic. Just a very casual approach and very intimate and honest presentation. It was fantastic!

All these guys were fantastic, but I was most impressed with Michael Gungor. Great songs! Great energy and creativity. Check him out for sure!

Check out the worshiptogether website for more on these guys and many other worship leaders.

Future Of Forestry

Bryce, Daniel and I went to see Future of Forestry play at The Vault last Friday night. Great band. It was hard work staying for the two bands that preceded them, but it was worth waiting.
They have an album out called Twilight that I have been thoroughly enjoying for 2 or 3 months now. Go to the website and listen to some of it. (Or here).

Not only great alternative rock'n'roll, but very worshipful and heartfelt. There are some beautiful lyrics in their songs too.

I will go where glory meets the crude and weak
I will go where mercy meets the shame
I will go where strength will find the small and meek
I will go where magic meets mundane
And You're all I want, You're all I want
You're all Ill find
You have my heart forever
You are all that I could need
I will go where grace and healing love restores
I will go where peace and rest is known
I will go where friendship finds my heart in yours
I will go where beauty leads me home

Great guitar player - very creative with sounds. I like that.

There's the really interesting stuff right there on the floor!

Nice amps too...

Daniel On Top Of The World

While Ali and I were on our San Francisco trip Daniel was on a 21 day wilderness trip with his school, Coastal Mountain Youth Academy. Here he is at 10,834 feet, on the summit of Mount San Jacinto in the San Bernadino mountains. This accomplishment came towards the end of the program which included activities such as high ropes, rock climbing and backpacking. This was certainly an experience of a lifetime for Daniel and the other young adventurers, and one that they will never forget.

The Amazing City Of San Francisco

It was a beautiful day so I was able to get a good panorama. This was 9 photos stitched together. You gotta love Photoshop! Unfortunately at this size it doesn't give the full impact.

One of the most famous and most recognizable bridges in the world. The Golden Gate bridge from the North shore.

San Francisco City Hall. There are some amazing buildings in this city - old and new!

Side by side...
Groovy!
Reflected...

Surrounded...
Looking straight up from street level.

The city area is huge. Block after block after block of tall buildings. There's not a lot of flat ground so you're going up and down a lot. It adds to the feeling of constant motion and the buzz of something always happening.

This guy was rocking out on the city street corner in the full blazing sun. he was pretty good too. Actually, this city is one place where you'll see it all. Lots of creativity, lots of money, lots of degradation and moral decay, and more homeless people than I've ever seen anywhere in the Western world. It was quite confronting actually.

There are some seriously steep streets... like a rollercoaster.

The Palace of Fine Arts, a Roman-style remainder of the 1915 Panama-Pacific International Exposition. The outdoor rotunda, and its lagoon, are some of the city's most-photographed sights.

These ruins are amazing. Just like being in Rome... well, maybe not, but impacting all the same.

We loved seeing San Francisco. A beautiful city for sure but underneath the gloss there's a lot of pain and dirt - more than she'd have you know.