The World According To Chris Brewer

I’m a Seattle Mariners fan, and it is so tough to watch them slog through this season with uninspired play — lately, we’ve been getting shellacked by everyone. Tonight it was at the hands of the Yankees 13-2. So guess what Ichiro, our wonderful center fielder, said after the game? This from the Associated Press:

“Playing on this team and seeing what is happening around me, I feel that something is beginning to fall apart,” Ichiro said, through a translator. “But, if I was not in this situation, and I was objectively watching what just happened this week, I would probably be drinking a lot of beers and booing.”

He said it, not me.

In other baseball news, Jose Valverde of the Houston Astros was hit in the face by a line drive today. Dude remained in the game and got the save. How awesome is that?

If you’re a glutton for punishment and want to see someone else get hit in the face, here’s the line drive that knocked Chris Young out of the game a couple days ago. This one is a bit nastier.

I love to talk to just about anyone who is willing to tell their life story, and to share their experiences and what helped shape them as people.

I especially relish the opportunity to talk to our nation’s war veterans and get a glimpse of what life was like for them in time of war — their thoughts, emotions, how communication with friends and family was difficult, etc.

So naturally, I was thrilled to volunteer for a video shoot that I will do Sunday. I will have the distinct honor of doing a video story on the Ozarks chapter of the Pearl Harbor Survivors.

The Pearl Harbor Survivor group regularly meets at various restaurants in the Springfield area, and they use the time to catch up with one another and continue forging bonds that have been made for years. Each person at the table carries a treasure trove of stories and real life experiences that someone like myself, who has grown up in a vastly different world than the one they knew when they were my age, would absolutely love to hear.

This Sunday, there will only be three Pearl Harbor survivors at the table. They have voted to disband their group, because only those three still remain. Time has preserved their memories, yes — but time has also called the names of ones who survived one of the turning points in America’s history, yet could not survive the one thing that will eventually call each of us as well.

I am honored to be able to shoot the story Sunday and I am sure it is something I will take with me to my grave. Especially since I went to Iraq and experienced a war firsthand, I have had a desire to speak with those who were part of America’s Greatest Generation.

Look for the video to go online this Monday. I will be shooting it for News-Leader.com, but will link to it here.

Oh, and I am bringing an entire box of Kleenex. I am positive that I will cry, and not just once.

And in a setting such as this, that’s perfectly okay.

Off come Cocoa’s puppy creating mechanisms today. Mom took him to the vet this morning and they’re performing a whole bunch of work on him — including removing some baby canines, removing a messed up dew claw and the actual removal of his woo loos.

I imagine he’s gonna be a cranky boy when he gets home tonight. Ah, things should be okay in a couple weeks, if not a bit earlier.

Oh and on an unrelated note, Rendezvous coffee downtown (320 Park Central West) is an amazing place. Their bubble tea is out of this world, and I think the atmosphere beats Mudhouse. Rakel Arneson (JRA’s director of student choirs and my Northwest compadre whom I met at choir on Tuesday) told me about it and now I’ve gotta visit there more often. As she put it, “you don’t stare at paintings of death on the walls.” Got that right.

Anyhoo, back to work for me.

This might benefit those of you I have just recently met and are new to the blog, or simply wanted an in-depth answer to the question everyone keeps asking me about why exactly I moved from Portland, Oregon to Springfield, Missouri…

…please read this. I wrote it on my 23rd birthday, July 20, 2007. Read it and, if you’ve known me and seen me grow over the past nine months you’ll see how far I’ve come along in just the short span of time from mid-2007 to today.

Certainly, I’m not lost, but I’m found.

More “found” than I’ve ever been at any stage of my life.

I’ve been blessed with my first full-time job — and one I have coveted — since I separated from the Air Force in November 2006. Blessed with a great church, James River Assembly, in which I am actively participating by singing in the choir. Blessed by every new person I meet who offers a story about their life, where they came from, and where they are going.

For me, it’s abundantly clear why I am in Springfield. And I can assure you I will be here for awhile.

Springfield history buffs, I am in need of some help here!

While my dad and I were working a few weekends ago to take storm debris to one of Springfield’s drop off sites, we passed a dilapidated church building right off the side of West Farm Road 168 (just off Highway M coming in from Republic…you take a left at the blinking light then another left), just before the parking lot to the South Creek Greenway.

So I went back there today and snapped a few photos, and here’s one of them to give you an idea of what the place looks like:

You can see the words “Church of God” near the top of the building, and then above the awning, the letters “MRCHURCH” are somewhat visible. I wonder what COG this church was affiliated with, and it obviously has to predate the road running through there as there is no place to park for church congregants.

A closer look at the building reveals smashed-out windows, and someone has tried to break in — a large hole in the door says it all. There was a No Trespassing sign on the right edge of the property the first time I went down there, but today when I snapped the photo above it was gone. Someone obviously keeps tampering with the place…the building looks like it hasn’t been maintained in well over 20 years or so, but vandals are hastening its demise.

Google can’t help me (for once) but maybe there’s a Springfield history buff out there that can, or some kind soul that may be able to point me to one. I’d really like to find out the history behind this old church and which COG denomination it was affiliated with.

Help!?

I am not the biggest Coldplay fan. In fact I’m not really a Coldplay fan at all.

But a little cardinal swooped down onto the tree branch that hangs just outside my window, and told me as I was dressing for church this morning, that Brian Eno (who happens to be one of my favorite musicians and producers) is producing the new Coldplay album.

So after coming home from church today, I checked out Wikipedia and found out Coldplay is indeed soon releasing a new album entitled Viva La Vida or Death and All His Friends. Interesting title, but it has a track on there entitled Viva La Vida that I listened to by chance in the iTunes Music Store — it was only a 30 second snippet that had me asking for more.

I found the song in its entirety on imeem, so I listened…and listened again. And I listened again. Thanks to Brian Eno, Coldplay has changed their musical direction a little bit, and I like it. I used to fall asleep listening to “In My Place” and was even forced to use the intro to it as background music for my morning show in the Azores. But this stuff…is good. Very very good.

I now share it with you.

Ladies and gentlemen, here is the video I shot for the News-Leader about North Point Church selling gas for $2.42. Keep in mind they ended up doing this for a couple hours after I left, until all 9,200 gallons of gas were gone.

God bless them for helping the community!

And I just now noticed I put “gas bonanza” in my title. Hmmm…how about a little “Brass Bonanza” to go with that? Come on and party like it’s 1976.

From 10:00 to 10:52 tomorrow morning, North Point Church of Springfield will be pumping gas for drivers, for $2.42 a gallon at the Conoco station off Chestnut and Benton.

Sounds crazy, doesn’t it? I think it’s a great way for the church to show the love of Christ.

I’d elaborate more on it but I don’t want to because I will be heading there tomorrow to shoot video of it for the SNL. Stop by and say hi!

EDIT 5-17: Just got back from shooting video of this event, and they’re going to keep pumping until the pumps run dry!!! They announced it about 30 minutes ago. Get yo’ butt down there!

(sung to the tune of Battle Hymn of the Republic)

I found some extra money in my bank account today,
It will help me buy more fuel to send me along my way.
Now my funds aren’t in the black or red, they’re merely in the gray…
Thank you, President Bush!

Glory, glory hallelujah,
Glory, glory hallelujah,
Glory, glory hallelujah,
I now can afford gas.

It’s time for a brand-new edition of the 54321, something I sporadically post on my site, sadly enough, because I don’t really have much time to compile and find versions of the top 5 tracks I’m listening to these days.

Of particular interest this week is the classic, “Two Months Off” by Underworld. The first time I heard this track was when I was going through tech school at Fort Meade, Maryland in mid-2003. I was only 19 at the time — I remember heading out to Arundel Mills Mall with a few friends and the trippy video for “Two Months Off” was playing at Journeys. I went back to the dorm, downloaded it (I since have bought the song and own it legally) and it’s been one of my faves ever since.

Without further adieu, here’s the list: