Awesome Name

I was watching the revealing of McCain's VP pic this morning and Wolf Blitzer was hosting. I got to thinking about how AWESOME his name was. Wolf - how rock star is that? Then I decided the only cooler name could be Coyote Early-Tackler.

I love randomness,
Ross

Attention...this is a YES or NO question

Today it's August 27th, 2008 and apparently there's an election in the coming months. As if you could avoid it, with the RIDICULOUS amount of media coverage these days. The 24 hr media machine is tiring, but impressive at the same time. Not a single sentence is missed on the campaign trail, in the tour bus, at the local eatery, in the airport bathroom stall - all is fair game and all will be reported on in 5...4....3...2....1.

So looking past the hours wasted on the possible upcoming announcement of who the vp may or may not be, and wading past the convention rock star appearances and speeches, and sifting through the attack ads (i still haven't seen a positive ad for either candidate - sad), is the dancing around on the issues by each candidate.

My word of advice, when you're asked a YES or NO question, answer with a YES or NO. I'm not interested in an event 7 years ago that led you to this, and now you're at that conclusion, but the public says XYZ and you're open to that, and actually, the person that can give you the real answers is above my pay grade... Give me a break and answer a damn question!

I'm just guessing, but at some point one of them will be elected and at some point in their 4-8 year stint as president of the free world, an actual concrete decision will need to be made.

Perhaps we could begin practicing for those moments now and give us, the voters, something to actually vote on. No?

My 2 cents,
Ross
www.rosschristopher.com

10 Point Commentary - The Lightning Round

So here's my quick 10 point commentary:

1. If you haven't seen the Saddleback Civil Forum with Rick Warren, Barak Obama, and John McCain, watch it! Quick concise answers to our hardest-hitting and often most divisive issues done so in an a-typical/non-demonizing form. (I'd venture to say its the clearest and most honest look into this elections future president that we'll get)

2. Ultimate Christian Wrestling...are you freakin' kidding me?!

3. The summer's almost gone. Go do something crazy-summer-specific before you regret it.

4. The Olympics - don't erase it from your DVR or Tivo. Keep it on file for those times when the world looks like its on the brink of thermonuclear war. What a reminder that we can all come together in a civil fashion and not blow each other to smithereens.

5. Go buy and eat a big soft pretzel. Add cheese if you really want to live!

6. Cigars...an awesome invention. Pipes...even awesomer, because they make you look wise beyond years.

7. Training for Marathons seems to be the craze right now. Attention everyone...ITS 26 MILES...NO ONE IS CHASING YOU...I'M CONFUSED!

8. Sean Hannity...I'm tired of hearing that people are "Great Americans."

9. Please please please don't go trade in your Prius for the Hummer. I know, gas is practically free now that its dropped $0.50 these last couple weeks.

10. Volunteer.


-ross

A Sad Loss to Music

Yesterday I received a text from Justin letting me know that Leroi Moore of The Dave Matthews Band had died. I was shocked. I knew he wasn't touring with the band due to an ATV accident earlier this summer, but also knew he was in rehab and seemed to be recovering well.

I became a DMB fan in junior high. I remember opening my first BMG account - you remember those? Pick out 8-12 CDs (FREE) and over the next year buy 2 or 3 for about $20 a pop. This was pre-online-anything. I remember cutting out the small CD images and sticking them to an order form that you actually snail-mailed in.

So getting my "own" music for the first time, i'm not sure why I picked Under The Table and Dreaming, but I did (and its really had a tremendous impact on me and my musical approach). I love to jam. I love experimenting with songwriting. I tend to use my voice as an instrument - not simply a melody line to embed in your skull (i.e. "love me, love me, say that you love me...")

In a time when the whole world was going grunge crazy, out comes DMB with an acoustic guitar, a weird voice, incredible percussion, a black guy playing violin, a black guy jamming the woodwinds, and a white guy on bass - something didn't make sense.

But it was that 1st album that led me to Crash, Live at Luther College, countless bootlegs, and every album since.

The unique blend of instruments made their sound perfect to my ears. Their live show however, was tough to rival. Even if you're not a fan, you have to appreciate their interplay.

So, today its hard to believe that Leroi Moore is gone at only 46 years of age.

*for more info about Leroi, visit: http://www.davematthews.com/

Grace & Peace,
RC

A Cora & Dad Moment

So this morning, Cora and I got to hang out because it's my day off. I decided it'd be fun to film her on my mac book as she was hopping about. As you'll see, she's already WAY to interested in my mac. And then all of a sudden, mid play, she gets real still and you can see the fear in her eyes. And for the next few seconds, she grunts out what I happily discovered, and was fortunate enough to clean up, as a nasty terd. Great timing on your jog Kate...:-)

To my dismay, she then proceeds to mash it around for another couple minutes - just prepping my "clean up" even more - let's try and get it in every crease, fold, crevasse, and piece of cloth diaper material possible. Nice! Real nice Cora!

Well, without further adieu, here's the vid:



-Ross

Ross in Ardent Studios (Memphis, TN)

-ross

Memphis- Part 1

We went to Memphis, Cora-less (thanks mom and dad). It was nice to have a weekend to ourselves but I will be honest, we were missing her pretty bad...

Sunday nite we visited this BBQ joint- Corky's.

I have never eaten so much BBQ in my life- everything was amazing. Onion ring LOAF, buttered rolls, baked beans, slaw and ribs. We meant to take a picture of the ribs before we ate them, but we were starving.

The best part was the apple BBQ sauce- I love sweet BBQ sauce. So I bought some for home- it was that good.

Stay tuned for day 2 BBQ adventures

Excited for Ardent

Welp, Kate and I arrived in Memphis about 4 hrs ago and I'm getting really excited to hit the studio tomorrow morning. I'm mastering my newest album, The River Child, at Ardent Studios. I'm pumped to work with Kevin Nix in the studio that some great albums have been recorded.

Here's a few worth mentioning...





















I'm just excited for the project to be done and to focus on promoting it and finalizing the CD Release Tour to support it (Oct. 2008). The national release of The River Child will be September 19, 2008.

If you're interested in PRE-ORDERING the album, send $10 (per CD) and your return shipping address to:
Ross Christopher
14088 Clayton Rd.
Chesterfield, MO 63017

Peace,
Ross
www.rosschristopher.com

What's in a Name?

Shakespeare once said, "What's in a name?" Well, he went on to discuss roses. I'm not a horticulturalist, so I'm going to keep my commentary on what I know - mockery.



There are some crazy names at the Olympics. Here's my short list:

1. Tancock (apparently this tribe was loin-cloth-less in order to adorn the bronzing effect)
2. Beavers (don't get her too close to #1)
3. Jack Bauerly (really?...1 part swimming announcer, 1 part Olympic security)
4. Balmy (not really that funny, but I first thought that Costas was saying, "Ballmeat.")
5. Chang (so stereotypical!)

Peace,
Ross

Ooooooooooooooooooooooohhhh!!!!!

So, this is what i've been waiting for all Olympics long. Hungarian weight lifter, Baranyai, gets jacked. And let me also point out how awesome it is to be known as 1 name. Anyway, here's his series of events...
wait for it (or weight for it)...


wait for it...

wait for it...


Ooooooohhhhhhh, that's his elbow coming out of the opposite side. Now that's what I'm talking about!

Game on!
-Ross

Exploding Knees

Once again, being completely consumed by the Olympics, I watched gymnastics as the commentators comment (that's what they do, and its a good name for the job). So the commentator is commenting and he says, "let's pray his knee doesn't explode on the dismount." Uuhh, that's good advice. Exploding knees...not cool!

Note to the commentator: could we use less vivid words?

-Ross

More Olympic Fever

I've never been so drawn into the olympics as I am this year. Maybe its my inner love of Chinese food??? I doubt it, but you never know. So much raw talent - a perfect example of someone following a passion and talent - I watch amazed.


Actually, I think what I'm drawn in by is my sick desire to see some hard core crash-and-burn-wipeouts...and between the parallel bars, high bar, balance beam, pommel horse, diving, badminton, etc., there's bound to be some amazing spills. I'm watching closely.

Who's with me???

-Ross

Olympic-style Unity (let's just sing)

The Olympics. Such an opportunity for national healing. The perfect forum for civilized contest. A great medium for bringing differing nations together.

So I thought we might all join them in "Olympic Solidarity" by joining in song as we all sing the Olympic Song.

Sing to your hearts content...

Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da (repeat)

Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da

Da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da da (repeat)

That was nice.

-Ross

Ruffled Feathers?

As I watched our neighbor walked her 3 legged greyhound this morning I got to wondering-- why do some people make it their life mission to rescue abused dogs but wouldn't even consider doing the same for a child?

now, to be honest, i don't know my neighbor or the person down the street who takes in abused brittany dogs, so they may also adopt abused and neglected children. but i don't know for sure.

so watching them walk up the street, i then started thinking about our culture's obsession with pets. pets that are family members. pets that are children. you've seen them- the people who dress up their dogs and actually treat them as children. now, i'm all for caring for your pet, loving it, caring for it in an attentive and responsible manner, but there is some line that has been crossed in the recent years.

so back to my thoughts this morning- i wondered, why do some people care more for animals than humans, and i think it boils down to unconditional love. pets provide unconditional love, humans do not. caring for humans is riskier than caring for animals. and this saddens me. we miss out on so much by avoiding human relationships- yes they are messy, yes they hurt, but they are so much richer than any animal could ever provide. and guess what, there is someone who provides unconditional love- God. and God is the ultimate relationship being, God craves a relationship with us and craves for us to be in relationship with others. to be in community.

which brings me back to my neighbor. remember that i know what kind of dogs she walks but i don't know if she has also adopted abused children. i should know. i see her walking dogs everyday, tomorrow i should say hi.

p.s. a perfect example: people cloning their dogs, "Owner calls clones of her beloved dog 'a miracle'"

Sexual Ridiculousness

Yesterday I heard a radio ad put out by Planned Parenthood. I'm kinda shocked at the things I'm hearing...very callous, vulgar, degrading - but funny. The ad ends with a website being pitched: http://www.takecaredownthere.org/



So naturally, I checked it out. There's a handful of "funny" videos designed to "teach" tweens and teens about sex, STI's, etc. Now I fully understand that PP isn't targeting me in these videos. I even understand that abstinence isn't the #1 goal of PP. But even with those 2 HUGE grains of salt, I was saddened to see a multi-million dollar campaign, paid for by taxpayers, being spent in such a ridiculous, degrading, lackadaisical, and trivial way.

Now I'm not so black and white to say that preaching abstinence is the fix all. But there's a TON of gray area between TrueLoveWaits and what PP is showing. Even a little respect toward love, intimacy, sensuality, etc would be nice. It's a wonder only 55% of American's contract an STI in their lifetime. According to PP, sex is just as random an activity as dating. It works hand-in-hand. You date, you have sex. You don't date, you masturbate. Obviously self-control, self appreciation, and self worth are not part of the PP agenda.

So even though I laugh, i'm saddened by our culture and our so-called-leaders that believe and promote in such campaigns as this one, TAKE CARE DOWN THERE, by PP.

-Ross

The 2009 All Star Game vs. The Outback Awesome Blossom

So tonight we're at the St. Louis Cardinals game and this scene unfolded...

Each game, 1 lucky fan is given 3 items to weigh against a secret item inside a briefcase. The choice is theirs to make and live with. Here's tonights scenario:

Item #1 - 2 tickets to an upcoming Cards game (not bad)
Item #2 - $25 dollars Cardinals cash - to be spent anywhere inside the stadium (a real plus since beer is $8 each)
Item #3 - 2 tickets to the 2009 All Star Game being held in STL (ARE YOU FREAKIN' KIDDING ME?!?!?!)

or...chance it against the mystery prize in the briefcase

Well, to make a long story short, the woman picks the briefcase and gets a $45 Outback Steakhouse gift card. Way to go you idiot! Hope you enjoy the awesome blossom...

Sheesh,
Ross

Pet Peeves...

so this has been bothering me now for a bit...
why, if you are an non-profit organization that relies on the use of volunteers, do you not follow up with people who want to be volunteers.

two different organizations here in st louis give people the option to fill out an online form to start the process of being a volunteer. they prefer you to fill out this form, not really giving you a phone number to call unless you search for it on other pages on the site, so fill out the form i did. no calls or emails...

i've even filled out one of the place's form twice. no calls or emails. now, i don't believe i am unqualified to volunteer for either of these organizations. i'm willing to do any of the tasks requested and i even have background that would be beneficial to both organizations. even if they don't need me as a volunteer, don't you think they would still follow-up?

it's really kinda making me mad. so if anyone has any suggestions for organizations to get involved with- organizations that actually follow-up with people, let me know.

-kate