phil wing

As you can see, my daughter is pretty much gorgeous. If you think so, please go vote for her in this photo contest.
Vote Here: https://www.greatamericanphotocontest.com/voter1/index_c.aspx?referid=EmailFriends&p=431713&x=.JPG
If she wins, we get $2,500 which will all go toward our adoption this year. We figured, what the heck, why not try it. So, if you’ve got 3 extra minutes, go and vote for her. Sometimes, they ask you to fill out a survey after voting…just click “skip” and “no thanks”. Also, once you’ve voted, they send you an email to confirm your vote. Just be sure to check your junk mail cause it’ll probably go in there. Your vote won’t count until it’s confirmed by clicking the link in your email.

Thanks for helping!!!

So, Amber and I have the $7 cable plan from Time Warner…yes, there is a $7 cable plan! They don’t advertize it cause they don’t want you to get it, but it is available if you ask for it. It’s called “Basic”…not to be confused with “Standard” which is the normal $30-40 plan.

Basically, “Basic” is just all the local channels like ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, CW, PBS, etc. (with perfect reception - no more rabbit ear antennas) plus a bunch of public access type channels. Well, in every different part of town, there are a couple of “cool cable” channels that come with it. Our “cool cable” channels are TBS, LMN (which I like to call the “Ladies Movie Network”), and Fuse.

Anybody who knows me, knows that I’m a big fan of live music. Well, on Fuse, there is a show called “Later: with Jools Holland” that is on weekdays at 11am.

It’s actually a BBC show, but it plays on Fuse during the day. I’d have to say it may be one of my favorite shows ever! The format of the show is just 4-5 bands, in a room together, in a circle, taking turns playing their songs. So it’s an hour long and every band plays 2-4 songs live (depending on how many bands are in the lineup). It’s apparently one of the biggest shows in England so they get all kinds of good acts to come there. Well, I was watching it today and the lineup included Red Hot Chili Peppers, Keane, and Thom Yorke of Radiohead. Wow, talk about a sweet hour of music!

In the past, I’ve seen many great lineups. Another episode that was awesome was Pearl Jam, Corrine Bailey Rae, John Legend, and Regina Spektor. I’ve seen all kinds of great bands on there like: Coldplay, Jon Mayer, Explosions in the Sky, Radiohead, Foo Fighters, Beck, The Killers, Muse, Franz Ferdinand, Amy Winehouse, and all kinds of others.

I always catch it on my late days or days off. I highly recommend it. There’s no junk, no marketing, no nothing. Jools rarely even does an interview. Just good live music played for a solid hour on TV. It’s everything that Music Tele Vision should be!!!

more to come on this soon…but I just had to say that I am humbled, challenged, refreshed, broken, inspired… and about 50 other descriptive words… after this past weekend’s gatherings. If you can see 35 poor, needy, homeless people SHOUTING out their gratitude for God’s goodness and not be challenged, something is wrong. Seriously, I’m blown away.

…more to come…

So, in the last couple months, Amber and I have been on a big movie kick. As I said in a previous post, we go in spurts. One month we rent a bunch of movies, the next month we won’t rent any. Just depends on the mood I guess. Here’s some we’ve seen recently:

The Good (worth watching):

Martian Child - great movie…completely clean…and it’s John Cusack - can you go wrong with him? The idea of this movie is that John Cusack adopts a kid who really believes he’s from Mars. Obviously we loved it cause it revolves around adoption and there were some serious spiritual applications for me. If you watch it you’ll understand. I give it an A-.

Michael Clayton - one of George Clooney’s best in my opinion. Great acting from the whole cast. This is one of those movies where you’re wondering who to believe the whole way through…I love those. I give it an A.

Darjeeling Limited - so weird…if you like weird, awkward funny, this one is for you. It’s a Wes Anderson film so, yeah, weird. Owen Wilson and Adrian Brody are a funny combo, I’ve never really been a fan of Jason Schwartsman though. I give it a C.

Gone Baby Gone - AWESOME movie! It takes place in Boston, so you can imagine the language. Honestly though, as far as writing goes, this is one of the best moves I’ve seen in a while. At the end, you’re faced with some pretty tough questions that really make you reconsider which side of “right vs. wrong” you’re on. I give this one an A+!!!

Across the Universe - another of the recent musicals that are makin’ it big right now. This one is set entirely to Beatles tunes…which was sweet! The music is great! As a movie though, I give it a C-. The first 45 minutes were great…then it got really trippy. About 1/2 way through it turned from being a cool story to a hippie movie for those who are on acid.

Surfs Up - this is a funny animated movie…but I’d say it’s probably more for adults than kids. It is “filmed” like it’s a documentary following surfing penguins…so Gib wasn’t overly interested. I, of course, loved it! It’s a great cast of voices - Shia LeBeouf, Jon Heder, Jeff Bridges, James Woods, etc. I give it a B+.

The Bad (not worth watching):

Jay Jay the Jetplane (Gib’s bad pick)
Why Did I Get Married? (Amber’s bad pick)
We Own the Night (my bad pick)