I find that I might be a bit of a contradiction.  I don’t go see movies all that often.  Although I do love them, I just don’t find that I go to the movie theater that often to catch the recent releases.  However, I always tune into the Oscars.  A lot of it has to do with the production value, sets, and the way they run the show.  I’m a bit of a nerd in that area to be honest.  I’m usually looking for camera men, backstage people and other things the usual person doesn’t look for.  I think it’s one of the reason that I like “Season 25″ the behind the scenes show that follows Oprah and her crew around as they put together many of the shows 25th Season episodes.

Here’s the short of what I thought of the 2011 Academy Awards show: BORING.  Granted, I didn’t watch any of the pre-show crap as I don’t really care who or what is wearing who or what and how bad or good they look in the tux that looks like something I wore in the last wedding I was in but really is a $2000 tux.  Same goes for all the dresses and hairdos of all the leading ladies – although I do find it fasinating how, when watching some of the movie clips, they are able to make these people look so different in the role they are playing.

I was bored – there were no good set’s.  No good entertainment value.  Unless you want to count the number of different dresses that Anne Hathoway changed into through out the night.  Her Co-Host, James, was boring too.  Most of the night he stood there and looked off camera until he was his turn to read a line.  He was stiff and didn’t even look like he was into it.  Overall, I was pretty board and I ended up fast-forwarding through most of the speeches.

I know the Academy is trying to cut back on costs and stuff, but I just didn’t think anything about this years Oscar’s was good.

Only recently did I being to pursue a little more information into Skype.  For about $30 a year, you can get unlimited (Read: 10,000 minutes a month) calls to the US and Canada.  For an additional $30 a year, you can get a local number so that friends and family can reach you through a normal land line or cell phone, without having to have Skype. It of course makes free calls to other Skype users.  And it includes free voice mail when you purchase a year’s worth of calling.

Since I was with Time Warner and purchased their bundled package of digital cable, digital phone, and internet, it took me about two years to really look at my bill one day and realize that I was paying an unbelievable $49.95 a month before taxes and fees for my local phone service.  I couldn’t believe the savings between the two. In just two months, I would already be saving.  Through out the entire year, I would have spent $600 on my phone service.  I now spend $60 a year.

To add to all of this, I also purchased a Skype phone.  The GE – SKYPE – Dect 6.0 Cordless phone. The phone allows me to talk on the phone while not being at my computer.  It’s a cordless unit just like a regular phone but it syncs to your contact list on your Skype account. And because it links to your Skype account you have an electronic call log of who you called, who called you and how long you talked on the phone. It even shows you when you have missed calls and you can check your voice mail from your computer or the phone itself. The phone does have to be plugged into the internet to work but does also support land lines in the event you move or find that you don’t have internet service in your area.  It’s a two-in-one phone.  The service however, does not allow calls to 911.  I don’t think I have ever called 911 from my house and I still use a cell phone while out of the house.  So that wasn’t really an issue.

So far though, I love the purchase.  It’s a move I should have made a very long time ago.

I just downloaded the Julie Blue album by Joe Purdy and it’s amazing. I will never be able to forget the relaxing atmosphere and soothing feel of this album which brought Joe Prudy to the front of my favorites list. This unrefined mix of beautiful vocals and simple melodies will calm your soul in the sounds of the river. Hearing the water lap against the dock in the background, and the sincere lyrical genius of Joe all combine to make this one of his best, and a great album to being with. Julie Blue gets five stars and is a must for any summer mellow mix.

So A few months ago I had the chance to attend the James Blunt concert with my friend Amanda here in Austin at the backyard.

I like his currently overplayed “Beautiful” which is one of the main reasons that I went to hear the guy. I hadn’t heard much of the rest of his stuff. I just purchased his album, and the man has some talent. It’s a CD that I haven’t stopped playing. He moves from one slow song to a fast paced song. His lyrics are deep, shallow, show some serious hurt and healing all in the same verse. His raspy voice and British accent comes through in his strong vocals and well balanced band that doesn’t through in too much flair in their songs that cover up the strong lyrics.

I am currently reading To Own a Dragon by Donald Miller. It by far has been one of the most moving books that I have read in awhile. And not the kind of moving that makes you hurt for someone but rather the kind of moving that stops you in your tracks and totally relates to what the writer is saying.

I have been a fan of Donald Miller’s since his book, Blue Like Jazz. His most recent release, To Own a Dragon, was something that I was hesitant to pick up. I mean after all it’s subtitle is: Reflections on Growing Up Without A Father, and I don’t really fall into that catagory perse. However, my father was not around when my brother and I were younger. Yeah, we got to see him every other weekend and over holidays but he wasn’t there, there! We had numerous events, plays, concerts, award cermonies, etc, that dad just wasn’t there for. My brother and I spent numerous weekends at my grandparents when we were supposed to be with dad because of his work schedule and numerous other reasons. And becuase of this, I didn’t really know what a dad was supposed to be like. I didn’t know what it meant to have a dad around. I didn’t know what having a dad that yearned to be with his kids, to play with his kids, to be a kid with his kids was like.

It wasn’t until collge however, that I realized what a dad was supposed to be like. I accepted Christ my freshman year at The University of Texas at Austin and joined a Christian fraternity (Brothers Under Christ) shortly there after. It was there that I saw fathers with their sons at our father/son spades tournaments, our parents weekend events, and even travleing home with other fraternity friends, that I saw the love that grown men, dads, had for their kids. Don’t get me wrong, my father loves me, he always has. I just didn’t feel like my father was around much when were kids, when were doing the most growing up, the important and usually akward times in our lives.

Donald’s book has touched my heart and still is. Both good and bad. I totally relate with so much of what he has to say. He uses humor but is completely candid about the way he shares his feelings and thoughts about not having a dad. It has brought up a lot of hard issues for me recently. I have even had to put the book down a few times. Not just to take it all in, but to take a minute to… well you know, get the dust out of my eye…

In Chapter 2 Donald writes this interesting statment that I keep going back to:

It makes you wonder if just having a dad around – just his being there reading the morning paper and smoking cigars at poker with his friends and having him read you a story at night – you were supposed to understand something, some idea God in heaven wanted to offer as a gift. Lately, I have been curious about what that something is, and whether or not a person could understand it even if his fater took off.

I’m not sure why I keep coming back to this paragraph. I guess in part because as a Christian man, I want to raise my family in a way that my father did not. In a way that Christ has called us too. Not having been brought up in a Christian home, perhaps there was some gift I missed, yet saw a glimse of that gift with the fathers of my fraternity friends. Perhaps is simply because I don’t remember my father reading to me and my brother.

Needless to say, Donald Miller’s book has taken and is taking me to places that I have kept hidden for so many years. It is allowing me to open up wounds that I thought were healed, but merely covered with a bandage for a long time. It has even allowed me to open up thoughts and memories I have NEVER thought about until reading this book. If you had a split family, or no dad around when you were growing up, I recommend this book to anyone.

And thus I plunge ahead.