Freshman Showcase

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It was a full-day Saturday.  I was having some "front-end noise" from the ManVan so I got up early (7 AM Eastern/6AM body-clock) to find out what was wrong.  It was something I could kind of live with (It would have to get worked on Monday) so I just let it rattle.

We walked around the University of Cincinnati Campus and neighborhood. We saw Collin's new place ad went down to where Eric will be living in the Fall.  Amy and I went to the bookstore, Rana went with Eric to this dorm room and Jaron & Wes went to watch the UC spring football practice at the stadium.

We ate at "Big Al's" with Collin, then Eric went to get ready.

For Freshman Showcase, the class has to pick a theme, pick the songs, assign solos & groups, and choreograph the showcase (about an hour long performance.) They have to work on the flow and make it entertaining. It has to be like any other show in that it has to display them as a whole class or cast and not just a bunch of individual cabaret performers waiting for their solos. They take great pride in this and there is pressure from past showcases to be great. They talked about their showcase the very first day they arrived on campus.

It seems to be an exercise in the process of putting together a show. It causes students who have usually been, by far, the most talented person in their home town high school to suddenly work with 17 other people who are just as (if not far more) talented than they are. It is a gut-punch for some. This is a “safe” way to work through some of those issues.

It does showcase their 1st year’s growth especially when some of the class has not been cast in a show all year.

The Freshman Showcase counts as a class for credit and they work closely with the pianist and vocal-arranger. It gives him a chance to assess the students in a rehearsal situation without the risk of holding-up an actual show.

The Freshman Showcase gives the class all a place to work on their interpersonal skills (or how to tolerate other’s lack of interpersonal skills.)

The Theme was "Friended" and it was fantastic

Eric was fantastic (especially in the tap number "Brotherhood of Man."),


chris

I Like Driving a Van-Haiku

249

12:30 we left

Eleven hours later

We were in KC

chris

A long, sweaty day.

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In Cincy for Eric's showcase.

Lots of walking in the humidity.

Lots of sweating.

Showcases were fantastic.

chris

Snooze you lose!

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Amy, Jaron, Wesley, Rana and I are in Cincinnati to see Eric's Freshman Showcase tomorrow.

We picked Eric up at around 4:30.

I asked hm where he wanted to eat and he said, "Anywhere but here."

We ate near our hotel (in Norwood) and came back to our rooms.  Within 15 minutes Eric was asleep on one of the beds.  Then Jaron was asleep next to him, then Wesley, then Rana went to her room and fell asleep.

I was willing to take them all to "The Avengers" at 9:40, but they are all asleep.

Snooze you lose!

chris

The Day I Got Saved

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I got saved May 3rd, 1980.

Sam Dye baptized me at the Whitebreast area of Red Rock Lake on that day.

It was also the day of my Junior Prom.

It had been a hard school year and a hard 16th year for me in general.

I remember going under the water, coming up, and knowing it was all different.

It was a great day.

chris

A Frustrating Day

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I had a frustrating day.

What did God put on this earth to make my day a little better?

Nutella.

Nutella USA

chris

I guess if I’m naming names, I’m going to name them. (More Battles on Multiple Fronts)

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After a short time at IFI there were two counselors in particular that I had concerns about. One of them was Mickey.

She was a person with a colorful history. Apparently she had a troubled past and was the recipient of some of Prison Fellowship’s ministries.  She was from England and had the accent.  She was (I believe) Sri Lankan by decent.  She was specifically our substance abuse counselor.  Reportedly, she had a nursing degree and had worked as a nurse in some sort of treatment capacity.  She did not display good boundaries within the prison so she drove security crazy.  After a few conversations with her, I had my doubts that she had any credentials at all.  Mercifully, before the end of my first year, she was no longer with IFI.

Gary was another counselor I had concerns about, not so much that he was unethical or dangerous in any way, quite the opposite. He was so loving and empathetic. He really cared for his guys, and they cared for him.  It was that he became so enmeshed with his men, he would over-advocate and get tunnel-visioned and ultimately bamboozeled by guys wanting to take advantage of him.

I think Gary liked me (I certainly liked him) but he was very suspicious of me because I was a “tongue-talker.”  Gary had graduated for the same Bible College I had attended, so I knew he would struggle with my “practices.”  The ironic part was that, to me, Gary was clearly prophetic, especially when he prayed.  We had a baptism service on the unit one time and Gary would pray for the men he was baptizing. Before long he wasn’t just praying nice prayers of blessing, he was proclaiming their future with statements like, “You will go on and be a blessings to the Nations!” which elicited a shout from within me. I looked over at Gene Feagan and he was nodding and shaking his arm (which was one of those Holy Spirit manifestations I’d seen from him many times.)  Gary would weep for his men. Actually, he was so tender-hearted he would weep often.

Bur Gary was very knowledge-based and he resisted the notion that some of the Charismatic stuff he was so opposed to was actually the very ingredient needed for not only the men, but his own life.  Unfortunately, his black and white thinking, his sense of justice, and his over-advocacy for his men got the better of him and before my first year at IFI was out, he was gone.

chris