Untitled

Upon suggestion of a friend whom I won't name (But I have a link to her blog on my site) I have created a new track. I call it Lean on Me 2.0 and you can download it on the Imagine Cup Winners website... Be warned... this is horrible and it will probably be the only one of it's type... I'm pretty much just giving the entire world a reason to make fun of me... sigh...

Chem 6a

If you've never heard Switchfoot's Chem 6a before, it's extremely catchy and fun to sing along w/. The lyrics are really good too. It's a song talking about how pathetic todays society is. Everyone is lazy. If everyone were like that the world would be pitiful. I did a cover of this song and posted it on the Imagine Cup Winners website for you guys to enjoy. It's not half as good as the original though. (But it's EXTREMELY fun to play! :-))

Dads Home!

My dad has been out of town for what seemed like forever. He is not in the military any more, but he still has to go TDY sometimes for his job. I'm sooo happy he's home. Things run a lot smoother here and my mom is happier and I missed him!

How it Went Down

Ok... I haven't had a chance to talk about the Portable Sounds concert I went to. I'll start off w/ saying... IT WAS THE BEST PWNING CONCERT I'VE EVER BEEN TO IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! (I have been to quite a few considering I'm only 16).

It all started w/ Family Force 5. Not many people seemed to know who they were. They are a reletively new band. Anyway, they definately held their own on the stage out there. They ROCKED! (I already had heard some of their stuff because I like to listen to new artists). They came out w/ Replace Me, which is one of my favorite songs, but my favorite song they did was Luv Addict. I have had it stuck in my head ever since the concert.

Next up was Building 429. It was a big contrast. Straight from FF5 heavier crunkiness to soft melodious worship songs. I must say, it was very good. It was nice to have a little break and sing some worship songs, though I have heard some more upbeat things that they do and I would have liked to hear some of that too.

TFK was next! Very Impressive. I am already a light TFK fan (I don't have any of their cds), but I do enjoy a lot of their songs from what I've heard from friends and the like. They came out w/ the Art of Breaking. I didn't really care for this song too much, but others seemed to enjoy it... maybe it was just because I haven't listened to that one a whole lot. The best songs they did were Move, Absolute, and Rawkfist, which are my favorite songs that they do! It was pretty amazing. I hadn't been standing up yet, but when Absolute came, I was on my feet!

Tobymac... the headliner. What can I say. He's the most practiced preformer I've ever seen and it showed. It was a spectacular presentation, from the lights, to the songs, to the jokes... There's not a lot you can say about it...!

The Beard

Ok... So, the poll on Imagine Cup Winners about whether I should keep my beard or not concluded w/ 5 votes keep and 3 votes shave. I know that the majority said to keep it, but it was starting to look ratty because it wouldn't fill in and my mom and dad both wanted me to shave it... sooo.... I shaved it... Note: I did not shave because of favoritism on who voted what... All the people that voted were my friends and it would be mean to do that. I just did it because it was trashy.

EVEN MORE on Imagine Cup Winners

I posted like... four songs that I recorded on the piano this year. Some of you have already heard them because I emailed, but hey... the worst is that you hear it twice. With all humbleness... I don't think it's as bad as having to listen to Sanjaya week after week after week. ROFL
Post some comments on the songs!

More on Imagine Cup Winners

I added some more songs to the Imagine Cup Winners page. Please check them out and leave some posts here! Thanks!

I'm Just a Loser Kid

Ok... I'm trying to grow a beard, I want to know if I should press on or drop it... Go to the new Polls area of the Imagine Cup Winners website to cast your vote!

Word

WORD UP PEOPLE WE ARE BOUND TO SIN NO MORE!!!... lol ... I love that fact and I love to say so.

Anyway, I FINALLY added something new to the Imagine Cup Winners page. It's under the Just Chillin' section under Michael. Please check it out! It's a recording of me playing the song Apaloosa Spirit by Dennis Alexander. It is one of the peices I have to play for my districs piano competition coming up. It doesn't sound too good because of the large quantity of low notes, but I hope you like it! :-)

Here's What's Happening Today...

So I just got done shooting some hoops outisde. It's about 60 today so it was good sports weather. I thought I'd come inside and update my blog though.

Well, the other night we had the homeschool familes over like I said. It was pretty fun. Smith came over and we hung out for a while then when the younger girls finished (rather, got bored) with their jobs we all had a game of hide-and-go-seek. We were supposed to be playing manhunt but their was some cheating going on and their was no jail so it was pretty much a glorified game and hide-and-go-seek. Since I was the oldest I got to be the captain which was pretty cool, but since Smith was the second oldest he had to be the other captain. With the exception of Smith and my brother, I had all the good players on my team, yet we didn't do so well, because the only time that we got to seek, I overlooked Smith and Marcus because I wasn't on my guard. I guess that's just what happens when you don't think straight.

The same night, I had my cousin Micah, send me the tabs to a song that his band, Losing 76 plays called "Broken Possibilities". It's a pretty fun song to play... I should do a cover of it sometime.

Tonight is youth group at my church. I love youth group. Our teacher, Mr. Long, (Jr. for clarification) is also the song leader at our church. He's a pretty cool guy. Right now we're doing a study on I Corinthians. It's very interesting and I have learned a lot. One of my favorite Bible passages is I Corinthains 13 (The love chapter for those of you who don't know). I can't wait until we get there in class.

Thinking about covers, I haven't recorded a song that I've put on the web for quite a while now. I should make one soon. We have a family known as the Hammacks visiting us next month (I failed to mention in my "Something I Need to Get Off My Chest" post that I also miss them. There are many other families that I didn't mention, I just used one as an example for brevity) and when they do I plan on possibly recording "Rebirthing" (Skillet). I also want to record one of the new Five Score and Seven Years Ago songs. I am thinking about either "Must Have Done Something Right" or "The Best Thing" (both of which are sunshiney happy songs which happen to reflect the mood I've been in lately.) I will have to see about that.

It's Been Awhile...

Today we are having a bunch of homeschool familes over to our house. The ladies are going to work on granny squares for a lady that has brain cancer. My friend Smith is coming over to play w/ me.

BTW... my mom also has a blog if you want to look at it. It has some pictures of our family making syrup from a maple tree we have outside. You can find it here.

I'm going to a concert this Friday. Tobymac's Portable Sounds tour. If you don't know about, Tobymac, Family Force 5, Thousand Foot Krutch, and Building 429 will be preforming. It should be rockin'. Somehow I can't help but think to myself... Is Building 429 a little out of place there? lol

I have to write a research paper and I was deciding on what to write about. I didn't want to do something boring like Global Warming. I was having a hard time finding a topic. I believe I have settled on one. Nessie! Yes... the Loch Ness monster, Nessie ! Lol (I am serious)

Random Happenings

Let's see... what have I been doing? Well, Today I am going to a retirement for a family at our church. Last night I went and watched the Awana games practice at our church.

I'm still grooving to Five Score and Seven Years Ago... I have the song "The Best Thing" stuck in my head right now... It's a really good song. I think this cd is full of 'em.

I think I should put of some pictures. The only thing is that I don't have any worth putting up. I'll have to find some.

This Saturday is the Awana Games for our church. I'll be up in the stands throwing out my voice. I was trying to think of all my friends that would be there, but I can't think of too many. There's Drewbie... Hold on... that's mostly it. Yeah... normally we'll have a big cheering section, but I don't know about this year. I just hope my voice carries a lot more than usual.

I watched like six episodes of my favorite show yesterday, "Even Stevens" which I believe is the best tv show ever created. Never again will their be such a simple yet hilarious show. I will also say that because of that show, Shia LeBouf is my favorite actor. I also liked him in the movie "The Greatest Game Ever Played".

What's up with that one commercial where that guy gives his earphones to the tv and is like "The new Fall Out Boy song pumps me up!"... It's not even that cool.

Five Score and Seven Years Ago

Ok... I admit that I wasn't able to buy Relient K's new cd on opening day... some things came up, but I did buy it the day after. I must say, it was a very good use of $14.97. Overall I get the feeling that this cd is of a lighter mood than MMHMM. (Screamo is non-existent in this record) This however was a good thing for them to do. The songs on this cd are of a much happier note than MMHMM. The love songs are sun shiney and happy. I like it. From beach boysish "Plead the Fifth" to the country sounding "Faking My Own Suicide" you'll love this cd all the way through.

The highlight however, is the last song. The song is entitled Deathbed. The song is written from the perspective of someone dying from lung cancer in his deathbed (How appropriate). He tells the tragic and depressing story of his life. When he was young, his father left the family. He got addicted to smoking and drank. He was involved before marrage with a woman who ends up divorcing him and taking the kids. Not quite sun shiney happy eh?

But THEN! HARK! Eventually he tells of how one day, he accepted Jesus as his Savior. He asked Jesus to forgive all of his sins. This is followed by a long instrumental solo. With less than 2 minutes to go, Jon Foreman (Switchfoot) sings Jesus voice saying, "I am the Way. Follow Me and take My hand. And I am the Truth. Embrace Me and you'll understand. I am the life. Through Me you'll live again. (Thiessen takes over again) For I am Love. I am Love. I am Love.

This song is so amazing. You can't understand how good it is until you hear it for yourself. GO OUT AND BUY THE CD!!! For those people who said that Relient K was going away from God by not actually saying Jesus in their songs, THEY'RE BACK AGAIN!!!

Something I Need to Get Off My Chest

Have you ever had the nagging feeling that something incredibly painful, unwanted, and massively uncool will happen inevidably. That's what I'm feeling now.
A long long time ago, in a galaxy far away, I didn't have a care in the world. I was a free little kid. I had friends, I was homeschooled, things were going good. When a met a new family though, something was different. We found out that this family would be moving after four years of staying in Nebraska. We became close to this famiy. When they moved away, it was crushing. We have kept in touch, but it was incredibly painful to have them move away.
A new family moved here not too too long ago. We have recently becomed friends with them and are getting to know them better. Nothing wrong with that right... everyone needs friends... Here's the thing... they are moving in two years. I'm stuck between a rock and a hard place... is it worth getting to know them, becoming very good friends with them only to have the happiness ripped when they move? This is the question I have been thinking about of late. Why should people ever make friends? There will be sometime when they must be seperated. The real question is: Is the friendship worth the pain?
Whatever the answer to the question is, I still seem to be getting closer to all my friends here. I am going to college in a few years. This is not good. I will have to leave everything I have ever known. When I get to college, I will make friends there, who I will leave behind. Is this worth it?
There are times when I don't want to try to make new friends at all, but then I think. I remember all the times that I had such a great experience with my friends. It was one of the best things to ever happen to me. I still have the memory of being with that friend, even though it still hurts to think about them.
I believe it all comes down to the coloprializm (no idea how to spell that) "It is better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all". I believe this rule applies to friendships too.
Though this may seem hard to believe because of the inevidable pain, I believe it is true. It is better to have been friends for a short time, then to have never had a friend. Besides, it's not like we still can't communicate over the phone or something... but it's still not the same...
Maybe I'm just rambling... I just don't know...

A Conversation With Myself: Basketball

"Well, it seems that the basketball season has finally come to an end."
"You say that remorsefully... is it that you don't like basketball?"
"No... not really, but the season is so long that it's nice to get a break."
"So are you going to be practicing this summer?"
"You betcha."
"So how did my last game go?"
"We lost by six points... We played our rival team, the other local homeschooled team, 'the lightning.'"
"That really bites"
"Amen"

Michael Buble

I recently visited a blog made by a friend of mine. She had a post talking about how good Michael Buble is. I'm not saying that he has a bad voice or anything, but have you ever heard a guy say that he liked Michael Buble? I sure haven't. It seems to me that the only people that like Michael Buble are female type humanoids... If you are a guy that likes him, please tell me.

FIVE SCORE AND SEVEN YEARS AGO

In honor of Relient K's new cd coming out tomorrow. I have placed their music video for "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" on this site. Relient K is one of my favorite bands and I wanted to Celebrate the new cd (which I'm buying tomorrow)

This weekend I watched the movie, "One Night with the King". It was pretty good. I thought that it did mostly a good job of telling the story of Esther. It seemed to concentrate too much on cheezy romance though... sigh. I watched it with my best friend, and he told me that the actor who played Gimli on LOTR was Mordaccai. There was a scene in the movie where Mordaccai says that he won't bow down to any god. When Haman asks him what god he is referring to, I thought that he should have said, "The One True God. The great I Am. The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but it still only counts as one"

Ok... I have some explaining to do about my last post. This Spring, I am planning to referee soccer games for money. In order to be able to do that, I had to take a class that took 8 hours Saturday and 6 hours Sunday. They were incredibly boring. Thankfully, I passed the test with a 91% grade. (Only a 74 was required to pass)

NAHEUW

This is what i feel like when i've spent my precious Saturday in a class that took 8 hours: SDF:JJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJJDDDDDDDDJOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNMMMMMMMMMMMMM
sssssssIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNMMMMMMMMMFLlls;alskjdfkl;

Ok... i feel much much better

Imagine Cup Winners

To those viewing this blog that don't know. I competed in an International Microsoft competition called the Imagine Cup. We were one of 15 selected teams chosen to go to Microsoft's headquarters in Seattle, WA. We ended up getting second place nationally, but while we were there we made a webpage called The Chronicles of the Imagine Cup. You can see it at www.imaginecupwinners.com . Since the Imagine Cup, I have posted recordings of me singing on the site. They are under the "Just Chillin'" page under the Michael tab on the menu. Check them OUT!

Reading some more...

So I borrowed a book the other day. The Showdown by Ted Dekker. The only other books I had read by him were the "Circle" trilogy (Black, White, and Red) and House (nothing to do with the tv show of the same name which I really hate). Those books were pretty good so I figured I would read The Showdown. It was really good. Something I didn't know about the book was that it answered some questions that were left unanswered the in the "Circle" trilogy. I don't want to spoil the surprise, but it even tells how Thomas wound up in the Black forest. It is definately a must read for a thriller fan.