My Blog

Our Cover Girl

Wed, 4 Aug 2010 21:26:58 +0300

Over six months ago, I shared a short video with you of Megan playing Mary Had a Little Lamb on her flute after just two lessons. She has progressed quite nicely since this modest beginning and performed beautifully in her first recital in June. This recital consisted of three very short duets with a fellow student of comparable skill level.

Following her public debut, she enjoyed a short break while her instructor spent some time in her hometown of Chicago. This week, Megan resumed her lessons and ust today, I was pleased when we received in the mail the new brochure for the conservatory and found a picture of Megan right on the front cover (the one in pink). She’s our cover girl. She now thinks she’s famous in Haifa.

Patrick

World Cup Mania

Fri, 2 Jul 2010 14:18:41 +0300

As many of you probably know, we are in the middle of the World Cup soccer tournament, something that only happens every four years. Sadly, our nation (USA) has already been eliminated from the competition, though they should not be ashamed of their performance. It’s no easy feat to make it to the round of 16. Although soccer may be growing in popularity in America, it doesn’t even come close to its popularity celebrated throughout the rest of the world.

Israel is no exception. I snapped the above shot a couple weeks ago in Nazareth when I had a little time to spare before picking the kids up from school. I chose Germany because that’s who I’m rooting for to take the prize. On just about every building in Israel, it seems, you can see flags from just about every nation represented in the World Cup: France, Italy, Brazil, Spain, Germany, Argentina, England and on and on (not too many US flags). By far, the most popular team in Israel is Brazil. It seems like everyone wants Brazil to win this year’s competition. If they do, it will be their sixth win. No other team has won more trophies. Germany has won three.

As trivial as sports may be in the scheme of Kingdom things, it has opened up a couple of opportunities in our church. Last Sunday, a couple dozen people from our church stayed after services and watched the Argentina-Mexico game together. There was about an hour between services and the beginning of the game, so we enjoyed a time of fellowship with one another that was very rich. The Cup is giving us an excuse to be together as a body of believers, never mind that we cheer ferociously for our teams. ;-)

Additionally, on Sunday, July 11, the day of the World Cup final, two young men from our church, Bassel and Roni, will be performing a skit during our worship service that I’ve been coaching them to do for several months. It’s a skit that, if the Spirit has His way, will challenge people’s commitment to God and push them toward releasing full control of their lives over to Him. Pastor Yousef is coordinating his sermon around this topic as well. A small piece of the skit touches on the subject of the World Cup.

So, I don’t know if any of you really cares about the outcome of the World Cup. That really doesn’t matter, but I would appreciate your prayers for our church during the remaining days of the tournament until it’s culmination on July 11. Pray for us as we spend time watching matches together. Pray for people’s receptivity to the message of the skit that will be performed, that Bassel and Roni will be fully prepared and will be able to convey the message that God wants to speak into the hearts of our beloved congregation. Thank you!

Patrick

Two Down, Three To Go

Tue, 1 Jun 2010 08:16:58 +0300

It’s been several weeks since I last wrote on this thing. It just shows how easy it is to get out of the habit of doing something and how tough it is to begin again.

I would like to share about a recent accomplishment that I spent the last three months to complete. At the beginning of the year, I made a personal goal to become certified in all five applications that make up Apple’s Final Cut Studio software suite, the software that I use for all aspects of video production. I spent January and February studying for and completing the first exam for Final Cut Pro, the video editing software application. I was able to take this exam right here in Haifa. Unfortunately, I won’t be able to take any of the remaining exams in Israel. I won’t bore you with the reasons why.

So, after three months of studying, I went to Amman, Jordan last Wednesday and Thursday to take the second exam for Sound Editing in Final Cut Studio. I’m happy to say that I did very well, so I’m now an Apple Certified Professional in two of the five applications.

Yesterday, I began studying for the third exam, Color Correction in Final Cut Studio. I haven’t done much with color correction in the past, so this will all be new to me, but I’m anxious to learn how to improve the look of my video post production. I expect to spend the next three months on this one as well since I’m starting from scratch. If we can work out the logistics and finances, I hope to take the exam in Prague at the end of August. Christy needs to be there for three weeks doing a couple intensive courses for her master’s degree program, so I hope to be able to spend a few days there with her as a way of celebrating our 17th anniversary.

Oh, of course, while in Amman, I had to check out the import scene, so spent a little time in the local grocery stores (including Safeway) to see what goodies they import from America. The kids always like for me to bring them back something special they can’t normally get where we live. This time, it was Mt. Dew (see photo), Pop Tarts and ranch dressing. Oh, the simple pleasures from “home.”

Patrick

Independence Day Flyby

Wed, 21 Apr 2010 16:47:09 +0300

Yesterday was Israel’s Independence Day. It was 62 years ago that Israel became a nation. Pretty much everybody stays home during this holiday and pretty much everything is closed as it would be for America’s Independence Day. So, Ethan and I, along with my brother-in-law, Brent, spent a couple hours playing basketball, something we now do at least a couple times a week. It’s great exercise and a lot of fun. Usually, there are other kids there who join us in a game, but there was no on else around yesterday, so we managed by ourselves.

Suddenly, in the middle of a game, something unusual in the sky caught my attention. There, right in front of us, quite near, were several El Al commercial airplanes flying by in tight formation, one right after another. A huge 747 led the way, followed by a 777, then a 767 and finally a 737. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get to my camera in time to capture any images or footage of my own, so I found this picture of the planes flying over the coastline in Tel Aviv last year. It was really quite spectacular, though, honestly, it caused a few flashbacks of the video footage of 9/11.

After basketball, we’re continued our day off with a barbecue on Brent and Loretta’s balcony. Though we had a hard time getting the fire going, the meat turned out quite delicious. A few rounds of Scattergories and a movie later, and the day was done. We enjoyed our time together as a family.

Patrick

Passover Week

Sat, 3 Apr 2010 18:18:21 +0300

After a little time off from writing blog articles (due to a lack of what I think are interesting things to write about), I’m back to tell you a bit about some typical Passover week activities since we’re in the middle of it now.

The Passover holiday, for all intents and purposes, lasts about a week. For most of that week, a lot of business stay open, but places like grocery stores block off any shelves that contain breads, crackers, cereals etc., anything that is made from grains. It used to be that you could just reach underneath the plastic they use to cover the shelves to get the products you wanted, but it seems the stores are under more pressure from the Orthodox Jewish because they’re using more drastic measures to keep you from doing that.

Some restaurants are closed during the entire week. We tried to order pizza from Dominos the other evening and found that they were closed. McDonald’s remains open, but they make some pretty serious adjustments to their menuto do so without a lot of backlash. I tried my first McDonald’s Passover meal the other day. It was a grilled chicken sandwich, but instead of the buns they normally serve it on, they used something else that is egg-based (pictured above). It wasn’t awful, but it was a bit on the strange side. Ethan thought he was safe ordering the McNuggets, but then discovered that they even changed what they used on the outside of the chicken. It’s always interesting living outside of the United States, that’s for sure.

We’re getting ready for a little vacation time next week. On Tuesday, we’ll be heading down to Taba, Egypt (literally walking distance from the Israeli border) and relaxing for a few days on the shores of the Red Sea with Brent and Loretta, Christy’s sister and brother-in-law. It will be nice to be away from our busy lives here for a short time.

Happy Easter to all,

Patrick