Blog of Allan

2010-08-29T15:19:00.000-07:00

Memorial Slide Show for Aunt Cindy from Al H on Vimeo.

Hello Everyone,

Here is the slide show I created for my Aunt Cindy's memorial. I hope all of you are blessed by remembering her through this video.

In Christ,

Allan

New Regular Gig!

2010-02-18T16:41:00.000-08:00

Hey Everyone,

So i am happy to announce that I have a new regular gig at Sebastiani's in Huntington Beach on Springdale and Warner. I will play from 7ish to 11ish this Friday the 19th and March 19th.

I will post more dates as they come.

Allan

Test post

2010-02-01T09:43:00.001-08:00

Testing out blog posting via email

Allan

THIS KID IS MY HERO!

2009-12-15T12:28:00.001-08:00

Ok, everyone, this kid is my new hero! Forget all you rock stars that play for the cheers, girls and money. This kid just loves to play his favorite song on his ukulele. Rock it little asian boy with your ukulele, rock it!

Allan

A little bit of Christmas Spirit

2009-12-12T18:43:00.001-08:00

Glass music-Dance of the sugar plum fairy-Tchaikovsky

You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch

2009-12-05T10:55:00.001-08:00

This is a great arrangement of a classic Christmas song. Love it!

Ahhh Beer...questions and Allan

2009-11-19T20:28:00.000-08:00

This is a two part blog, the first is a little bit about me and beer and people. The second is me and beer. I wrote the two at different times, so they do over lap a little bit here and there, but I hope you enjoy.

Part One

I am looking at my instructions to a recipe for an oatmeal Stout, which I plan on changing a bit with a little touch of chocolate. Yuummmmm....
It is a brew which I have been wanting to make for almost a year. I love the subtleties of this style. But other things come to mind when as I am typing.
Over the past year or so, as I have dived into the world of brewing and shared my affinity for this over facebook and twitter. I have had more than a few people ask questions. These questions were about what in the world i was doing and if i am an alcoholic. I don't take these questions as a insult, but I see them as a concern a brother and sister in Christ should ask when they are concerned about another brother or sister in the Fellowship. Then again, I am not a big fan of people wondering if I am an alcoholic, thus a little problem.

I think the best way for me to solve (or at least attend to) this problem is to be blunt. No, i am not an alcoholic. (and yes i know the first thing you are things, "the first step is admitting"), but really I am not an alcoholic! I have been drunk, not my finest moment. I don't like being drunk, in fact its something I never want to be ever again and I always take steps to prevent this. I NEVER drink to get drunk and I don't like going out with friends that i know might get drunk. I DON'T like beer because of the alcohol, rather for the art of the brew (which i will write about later). No, I am not on the attack right now, and if i sound like it I sincerely do apologize. I just want people to know, with full sincerity, that I just like beer the same way a wine connoisseur likes wine.

Ok, i feel better. I hope you do too.

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So to get on with it in part two.....Yes folks, this is a little blog, (of probably more to come) about one of my favorite subjects and libations....BEER!

Part Two

If you have known me for any length of time at all, you know i am a fan of beer. It started in college with a Guinness at a friend's place. I looked at him and said, "oh..I could get into this!" That was over 6 years ago. That fateful night has spawned off what has become to be a large passion in my life.

I love beer for the art which is the brew. The over all look, smell, feel and especially the taste of a good brew is something i am coming more and more to appreciate and discern. When i pour a new brew into a glass there is this excitement in me that stirs. I try to analyze as much of it as possible and well, try to enjoy it too.
I compare it to looking at art. When i was in Europe i remember looking at the different paintings and sculptures and thinking, "what is the artist trying to tell me from this? What am I drawing out of this piece?" As i drink a brew i wonder the same things. What is the brewer trying to tell me in this glass? There are intense hoppy flavors that shout out at you for attention. There are malty flavors that melt in you mouth. Chocolate, coffee, grapefruit, grainy, sweet, bitter, toffee and the list can go on. All of them conveying some message from the brewer through the liquid on you lips.
Now that i am trying to brew my own beers, i wonder what am i conveying? Most of the time i think i am conveying that I am an amateur. Sometimes though, i feel like i hit something special. Something that grabs some attention and says, "Hey, this is good" We shall see what happens in my brews to come.

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Well, i am sure this will not be my last post on the brew. I feel this post was a bit disjointed, but i am ok with that, this is just a blog and well, this is how i feel right now.

I hope you have enjoyed and feel free to comment.

In Christ,
Allan

Motorola Droid Vs. iPhone 3GS

2009-11-03T23:04:00.001-08:00

I am just embracing the nerd side of me, and yes i really do want the droid

Weezer Snuggie Infomercial

2009-11-02T21:47:00.001-08:00

Anybody feel like getting me an early Christmas present!?

Jackson vs Bean

2009-10-15T15:12:00.001-07:00

I couldn't resist. Have fun with this one everybody.

Axis Of Awesome 4 Chords

2009-10-10T14:13:00.001-07:00

I saw this and thought, yup! It is just that easy...well sort of

What would my lifes "comment" section say?

2009-10-01T21:00:00.000-07:00

SPECIAL NOTE!
-I wrote this about in June while i was doing report cards and needed a break from the grades and what not. Enjoy

I am in the middle of writing end of the year comments for my student's report cards. These are at the end of the report card paper, a chance for me to get in a few words about how the student did or did not perform over this past semester. These are the hardest/easiest for me to write depending on the student. Some I get done in a minute or or less. These are the students that have tried hard, are intrinsically motivated and want to do well in class. Then there are the other students that take time...... These are the students that have taught me a new level of patience over the past few months. They have not tried hard, been disrespectful, not cared and over all WANTED to add gray to my hair.
You would think that these students would be the easiest to literally write off! I could fill more than a few boxes with the frustrations they have provided me over the time i have tried to teach them. Yet at the same time it is a big moment of personal reflection. Writing in these boxes I continually ask myself, have I really tried to do everything i can to encourage these students? I think about the parents reading the comments after I have cleaned my hands of the year and how they will think about their child as a student, and my representation of that student in the comment box.
There is a balance that I try to walk, of grace and honesty.

This comments section got me thinking/reflecting a bit. I got to wondering what would my comments sections say for life? Where would N/S/O ratings? Where would the "shows good effort but needs improvement" or "outstanding" or "doesn't try hard enough"? I took a moment and thought about that, it was fairly though, eye opening and well, an interesting moment to say the least.

So how about you? What would your life comments section say?

Allan

A Gift of a Bible

2009-09-03T23:11:00.001-07:00

I heard about this video and wanted to share it. Enjoy.

Allan

Map

2009-09-01T14:02:00.000-07:00

For some of you that know, I have been/will be getting involved with Project Exodus, an anit-slavery/sex trafficking non-profit organization. I learned about this through a buddy of mine at church named Mike Masten. Over the past few months i have been talking with Mike about PX (Project Exodus) and have started to find small ways i can help. Well here is one of them, spreading the word.
The more i have read about modern day slavery the more i see just how local and wide spread it is. It comes in many forms and for sure i will be writing more about my experience in this as i gain more experience, but i wanted to share something with you. Below is a map showing an incident of modern day slavery. It happened within driving distance of my house. Click on the link and check it out for yourself.

I don't know why, but the matter of modern day slavery is very heavy on my heart. The more i read bout it the more i want to help to stop it. Who knows where this road will lead me, but I am excited to be on it.

Moe on this to come.

Allan

Hope in Honduras

2009-08-29T12:50:00.001-07:00

A video I did for some missionary friends of mine. Please check out their website.

www.betoandlaura.blogspot.com

Sudden Ominous Music Heard Across U.S., Nation Panicking

2009-08-25T13:46:00.001-07:00

I love the Onion

Chengdu to Beijing to LAX CHINA PT 3

2009-08-11T18:19:00.000-07:00

Well I last left off with a little bit of the schedule

Morning – (7am-ish) get up for personal devo, then breakfast of steamed dumplings and rice porridge.
After Morning – Singing and lesson
Near Noon – Small groups and English Class
Noon (ish) – Lunch (usually at a restaurant in the area)
Afternoon – outing (think Panda Amsterdam)
After Afternoon – Free time (i.e. Allan updates Twitter)
Evening – Dinner (again restaurant)
Night – Activity/Video

This was our schedule, for the most part, what we stuck to. Some days did go a bit off schedule, but let me hit of the highlights.....

Personal Study Time - I loved this! I usually sat on the rooftop with my Bible, journal and instant coffee or a cup of tea. It was good to just be ith God in the morning.

Breakfast - Everyday we had the same thing, literally. It was rice porridge, steamed dumplings called bao zi, boiled chicken eggs and salted boiled duck eggs. While this may not seem like the most popular choice for Americans, this is a very Chinese breakfast. I thought it was pretty good myself. Add a little dark soy vinegar and well, its all good.

Morning singing and study I am sure were all good but they were all in Chinese, so i really have NO clue what was said.

Small groups - This was a time when everybody (but Marcus and I) got into small groups and discussed what every was said in the lesson. Since i could not understand what was said in the lesson I didn't really have all that much to contribute, so Marcus and I used the time to prepare for our "English Class".

"English Class" - This was a time when Marcus and I would teach silly songs in English with our guitar/mandolin skills! (and yes they are sweet skillz) This was a oppertunity for the other leaders to have a break and we would teach/entertain the kids for a bit. Now at this point i must thank the teachers at Ramona elementary for donating to help me buy supplies for this time. I bought little prizes and what not and the kids loved them! Thanks!

Lunch - Usually at a restaurant within walking distance. This was the time when i would catch a quick phone call with my amazing and beautiful girlfriend.(love you kelly)

Outings - This is when we took the kids out to different places. One time was to the Panda Breeding center. This is what i called the Panda Amsterdam. Another time the kids went and saw Transformers 2 in the theaters. Now this might not seem like a big deal, but is was the 1st time any of these kids went inside a movie theaters to see a movie. It is a big luxury for kids in the "villages" to see a movie in the theaters. I mean, if you are making $100-200 max a months and a movie ticket cost around $20, it is a big deal. They really loved that. We also went to a famous poets house and in general had fun.

Free Time! - This is my favorite time as i got to just hang out, walk around the city a bit and update twitter.

Dinner - Again at a place round the corner

Evening - There would be a movie around a Bible story or something of that sort and then off to bed.

Highlights
Here are a few stories that for me will stand out.

Watching the kids play -
For me one the big highlights of the week will be watching the kids play. Many times i would forget that they had an injury. They just played, like any kids their age. As someone that has been in a wheelchair and lives with something that can hold me back, it was awesome to see these kids live vibrantly even though they had some amazing challenges.

Jamming -
One of boys in the group whose nickname was Yao Ming, took a big interest in my mandolin and Marcus guitar. He loved to just sit and strum. I taught him a few chords and i would sit and watch him go at it. I would join in and help with strumming or fingering or bring in some back up with the guitar.

Birthday and Getting my hair done -
My family isn't really big into birthdays. I mean, I haven't had a birthday in the states for about 5 hears or so, that might have something to do with it, but for the more part we just don't make a big deal out of them. So I had my B-day in China this year. The foreigners got me a REAL birthday cake and we had a little party, it was AWESOME.
Ok, well for the other story, after an English class we had some time left over. As little gifts i got the girls "hair things" as i call them. I know how to buy cool stuff for guys, but as for girls i have no clue. So at the 99 cent store, (where i do most of my shopping for mission trips of any sort) i bought "hair things" little rubber hair bands, brushes, scrunchies (?) and what not. Well I had handed these out and all the girls when to town with them. (score one for me!) So they started having doing stuff with their hair and then looked at my hair. "Hmmm....." i heard one of them say. (Hmmm.... is for sure a universal thing) The next thing i know i am sitting in a chair with 3 Chinese girls with rubber hairbands ATTACKING my hair. I ended up with little tuffs of hair shooting straight up in pink, yellow and BRIGHT green. Well when they were done it was time to eat. So i went to pull them out and all of them looked at me with these big sad eyes and begged me not to take them out. So i agreed on keeping them in until after lunch. So i kept them on. I don't think i have ever had so many people stare at me. I mean, i am sure i almost caused an accident. i wore them with pride and when people stared i just smiled and waved back. The girls loved it. All of the people in the restaurant laughed and i just had to laugh with them. They asked what happened and i just pointed to the girls in the group and they all instantly understood.

Field Hospitals -
Well, after the week was completed, we took the kids and the parents back to the train station and bus stops that they came from. We took a bus and went to a train station then to a field hospital where a bus stop was. This was the heaviest moment of trip. These field hospitals were made after the earthquake. Many of the hospitals around the epicenter were damaged and over loaded with victims, so that they had to build these long stable like field hospitals.They are simple concrete, steel and wood. They are meant to be for the moment, not for comfort. Patients and their families would live in these make shift rooms while receiving treatment. Some have been there for almost a year.
Seeing the patients walk around the complex, families in waiting in the rooms and the small make-shift tent convenience stores, made me realize more of the reality that i was seeing. Its not that i didn't think i was real, but to see it face to face is totally different from hearing the stories of the past week.

GETTING HOME - Well Beijing

So after my week in Chengdu I had to head back to Beijing. On the way to the airport Alex, Marcus' girlfriend, got a call that her aunt was in the hospital, so she took a cab and got on the next flight out. Marcus and I got to the airport at 4:00pm and our flight is suppose to take off at 8:50. There is a 30 min cut off time to board the plane, so 8:20 is the latest that we can get on the plane......remember that.
Well, 4:00 we get there and get in line, hand over the passports and get told, "you are not in computer, please to go that line" Well, Alex had paid online, that is how we got to Chengdu in the first place! Anyways, we go to the next line and the lady behind the desk says, "Ah, you are here, but you have not paid". (Time 4:15pm)
Marcus and I needed some proof that we paid for the tickets, Alex was the person that paid and she had the "magic chinese flight numbers", of course she was the on a flight. So we had to wait, and wait and wait. (Time 5:00pm)
Waiting for an hour turned to 2. Marcus and I are getting nervous so we start looking for spots to sleep for the night in the airport. Time (7:00pm)
Finally Alex gives us a call at 8:00pm! We go to the ticket lady and she starts talking to Alex. (T-15 mins to cutoff) There was alot of Chinese spoken (T-10 mins) and then more computer typing (T-5 mins), and then phone calls (T-0 mins) and more talking in Chinese (T + 5 mins) and then more computer typing....(T +15, 20, 25)
"Ohhh...." that is a universal sign that something has happened. SHE FOUND THE MONEY! YAY! But now our plane has already left. We ask if we can have our money back, "No, I am sorry, but you missed you plane." (note this is the same lady we have been talking to the entire time)
"Yes, we have missed our plane because you couldn't find our money. Ok, well, you foun the money in the computer can you use that money to buy us another ticket in the morning?"
"No, you missed your plane, we can not give you back the money" (The time is now 9:00pm) And you think airlines are bad in America?

Well the hunt is now on for 2 one way tickets to Beijing. Marcus is searching on his computer and i am asking every ticket office in the airport for their prices. Finally at 11:30 we buy 2 tickets for $211.00 each! They leave at 7:30 in the morning. Rather than waste money on a taxi and a hostel, Marcus and I spend the night in the airport. We end up finding our way to a space under an escalator around 2:00 am. Now mind you we are in the arrivals section of the airport. So there are still announcements over the loud speakers, people walking around and mosquitoes flying around. I have rarely been so happy for 100 proof DEET and my sleeping roll.

Come 3:00am Marcus is done ans starts to sleep. I like my stuff so i stay awake and stay guard. I give my lovely girlfriend a call and talk till my battery is dead. i zone out in ipod land and then take a little nap.
4:00am I go to use the restroom and spend the first 5 mins going on a mosquito killing spree in the stall. (I really DON'T feel like getting bit anywhere that my pants usually cover) After the deed is done i go to wash my hands, and see the mirror is a checkerboard of mosquitoes. Again, another killing spree.
for the next hour and a half i do what i can to nap and stay up. Around 6:00 we get up and check in to our flight. AND VICTORY! Our names were not only in the computer, but it showed we had paid!

We got home, took a shower, (AMEN!) and then headed out to buy pearls. (I was under orders to bring back a chocolate pearl for my loving girlfriend) (ok, not so much orders, but it was very HIGHLY suggested) (love you Kelly)

The next day I had a last good Chinese meal and i was back on a plane. Now, my flight over was Air Canada, but i had misread my flight stub, and found out i was going back on Air CHINA! I was not thrilled. While i was my seat was an ok size, my ipod froze up an hour into the flight.

I arrived in America 13 hrs later and was very happy to see Kelly out of the gates.

FINISHED! There you have it!

I have other, non-China related posts to come. Hope you enjoy and feel free to comment.

Here is a slide show of my favorite pics, they are the same as from the first post, but now that you know the end of the story, it kinda gives you a little extra fun.

In Christ,
Allan

The Avett Brothers Tiny Desk Concert for NPR Music

2009-07-29T18:05:00.001-07:00

A little break from my China posts, this is from a video podcast i subscribe to, it is just amazing. the first song is my favorite.

Chengdu to Beijing to LAX NEW CHINA pt 2

2009-07-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

Alright, so when i last left you I was about to head over to Chengdu and that is where I will begin.

Monday morning Marcus and I got up, started to get ready and then we me Alex and headed to the airport. Now this is the new fricken HUGE Beijing airport terminal #3. It is probably one of the largest man made structures there are around right now. Besides being BIG it also has a Burger King, which Marcus had to stop at before we got on the plane. I understand this because living in China you have, relatively, not as many options/varieties of food. For about 30 mins Marcus was in heaven and then we were off.
The plane ride over wasn't all that great, but then again not many flights in China are. We landed in Chengdu and then went to the hotel where Alex's father works. The 4 of us went out to eat at a local restaurant and then went back to the hotel. Marcus and Alex wanted to show him pictures of his new grandkids. I decided to take a little walk and explore the area around me. I was out for about 2 hours and I found the normal.....small shops selling odds and ends, restaurants, street food and well, red lights (i.e. brothels) (these are VERY common in China and are a very sad sight) By the time i came back Alex's dad was gone and we all hit the hay for tomorrow.
The next morning we all got up and meet Jackie, a leader in the church and former friend from JingZhou. He pointed us the way to the hostel where we would be staying for the next week. It was the Dreams Travels Youth Hostel! YAY! (ok so this is no 5 star hotel, but really it was cheap and did the job and that is what i really cared about.)

When we first got there most of the families had already arrived. I went to a room just to put down my stuff and there met some of the kids. I wasn't really, "surprised" by what I saw, rather wondering how in the world i was going to communicate with them. In China there is the, "standard" language, what we call Mandarin, and then there are the thousands of local dialects. There is the almost a different language for every city, so for me know like, 20 words in Mandarin, I knew that talking to these kids was going to be......interesting to say the least.

Ok, now I have mentioned a bit about where these kids have come from but I haven’t yet told their specific stories or how they got there, so let’s rewind time…..(insert Wayne’s World doh doh doh doh, doh doh doh doh, doh doh doh doh)

Almost a year ago an earthquake hit near Chengdu, China. (Check Here, Here and Here). Well the church that I was with working with wanted to help the people that were affected by the earthquake and started sending people from the church over to the places hit hard. While they were there they started to meet families in the hospitals. Through these connections they met the kids that we worked with in Chengdu. So here they are….

From Chengdu Kids

Lou Ying

From Chengdu Kids

Ma Cong

From Chengdu Kids

Ping Ping

From Chengdu Kids

Shang Ting - She was one of the last people to be pulled out alive. She was buried for 5 days, and basically heard her classmates expire around her. She is in a wheel chair because she has two prosthesis.

From Chengdu Kids

Si Yu (aka Cutie) - She was saved when her teacher grabbed her before the classroom was about the be filled by a landslide. They made it out the door and the teacher used her body as cover as the landslide hit them. The teacher died, but Si Yu survived. She received a deep gash in her leg from heel of the shoe her teacher was wearing that came off and dug into her.

From Chengdu Kids

Tong Zhong Cheng

From Chengdu Kids

Wen Jing

From Chengdu Kids

Yin Fun Qun

From Chengdu Kids

Zhao Chen - He was buried for a day and then was pulled out. But because there were so many kids/people that needed to be moved, that he had to lay on the ground for a day. From there he went to a field hospital, where he had to under go an amputation from below the knee without anesthesia. Because of the amount of people going to the hospital and that many of the regular hospitals in the area had collapsed many places had run out of anesthesia, so many people had to do without it.

From Chengdu Kids

Zhu Jie

So there are the kids and some of their stories.

The week had a schedule, kinda. For the most part it was this

Morning – (7am-ish) get up for personal devo, then breakfast of steamed dumplings and rice porridge.
After Morning – Singing and lesson
Near Noon – Small groups and English Class
Noon (ish) – Lunch (usually at a restaurant in the area)
Afternoon – outing (think Panda Amsterdam)
After Afternoon – Free time (i.e. Allan updates Twitter)
Evening – Dinner (again restaurant)
Night – Activity/Video

Now that was a loose idea of what we did. It wasn’t always like this, but this was generally what happened.

The part that most affected me was the “English Class”. Basically Marcus and I would teach the kids a few songs and work on their pronunciation. It was fun, but it was a bit frustrating for me as I just couldn’t talk to the kids. There are some things that are universal, such as passing out stickers or small prizes for pronouncing, Tuesday, correctly, but overall I had some limitations. (Note, I have to thank all of the teachers and staff that helped provide supplies for the English class)

Alright, that is all I can get done right now, I will give a finishing post a little later.

Allan

LA to Toronto to Beijing to Chungdu NEW CHINA Part 1

2009-07-06T19:03:00.000-07:00

Alright so i have tried to start this blog about 4 times now, and its not that I don't want to write it is just i have this thing about the introduction to a story. I have always had a hard time start the BEGINNING of a story when i am writing. But I am preparing some tea in my new fricken awesome tea mug and I am feeling the writing bug biting. So here goes....

I have a friend, Marcus, who is living and working in China with a house church. His mom, due to work, flies very often and has acquired a bit of flyer miles, so much so that she said, "Here is a ticket, go hang out with my son", and who am I to go against the wishes of a mother, right? So the itinerary was this,
June 18th
10:30 pm LAX to TORONTO
2:00 pm TORONTO to BEIJING

Ok i know this is not the greatest of flight schedules, but hey its a free ticket and well, i have a friend in Toronto so I thought it would be kinda cool.

The 17th was the last day of school and the 18th was a teacher clean up day. I bsically worked from 8am to 2pm, packed and bought supplies for the kids i would be helping and then got to LAX around 6:30. After a little (but fricken EXPENSIVE) bite to eat I got on the plane. It was Air Canada and I was pretty happy going over. I arrived in Toronto and then realized that, "Hey i don't have my cell phone, meaning i can't call my friend in Canada! Nor anyone else I know because i didn't memorize their numbers!" (That is what a cell phone is for!) So after some searching I find a computer and got the numbers i need. I meet up with my friend, Amy, who was a missionary in China when i was there. We had some coffee and had a killed a few hours just catching up with each others lives. I didn't get a chance to get out of the airport as it was too expensive to take the quick bus to Toronto and well, i didn't have time to take the regular bus. So I said a goodbye to Amy and then got on the plane to Beijing, again, Air Canada.
Now at this point and time i was wondering how we were going to get to Beijing. I mean, would i back track across America to Beijing, or would i be taking the long route over Europe and Asia? Well neither. Thanks to whole world being round thing, we went over the arctic circle! It was amazing. Anytime i would open my window I would look over pure white snow and stunning blue sky.
*Side note, now from LAX to Beijing it was around 30+ hours of time in Airports and planes. So here is a little bit of what I listened to to keep me entertained. Please Enjoy.

I arrived in Beijing around 7pm. I met Marcus and Alex (Marcus' girlfriend) and we caught a taxi to his place. The air was hot and well, when we rolled down the windows it stung my eyes. Beijing is not known for its amazing air quality. That first night we went out to eat, and then I hit a wall of jet lag and hit the hay.

The next morning we went to church and I met the people who would be going to Chengdu and a friend from when i was in JingZhou. The rest of the day I basically spent with Marcus and Alex getting things ready to leave for Chengdu and then had dinner with Marcus and Julia Rodriguez. Marcus and Julia are missionaries in China working with the sister church that Marcus and Alex are a part of. They are well loved friends and our time was great. We ended the night at McDonalds playing Settlers of Catan. It was a good time.

Now i have yet to fully explain what I was going to do in Chengdu.

View Larger Map

I was told before I left that the church that Marcus has been working with 'adopted' about 9 families affected by the earthquake last year. These families all have children that have either lost a limb(s) or were badly injured from being buried in rubble. The church was going to put on a week long camp for these kids and their families at hostel in the city of Chengdu. It literally came about only 2 weeks before i left so it was kinda a surprise, but it I was excited. Marcus and Alex were going to go a day early so that Marcus could meet Alex's dad, who lives in Chengdu, for the 1st time. I went with them to make it easier in getting to Chengdu.

Ok that is a bit for now, I will write more tomorrow night about what we did in Chengdu and then getting back to Beijing and LAX.

Allan

China Slide Show Preview, have fun!

2009-07-05T19:40:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Ok, I know...I know.....It has been way to long and I won't make any excuse other than I have just been too lazy to get to this. But as I start the summer I wanted to tell you of my recent China adventure. So I will start with a slide show and then will write more as i can. I should have the complete story up by the end of the week, but for now i hope this slide show wets your appetite.

Allan

Coming Soon

2009-04-18T23:05:00.001-07:00

Hey just wanted to let you know that there is a blog in the works...coming soon!

Allan

Magical Martial Arts

2009-04-09T15:29:00.001-07:00

So wrong on so many levels......

Pictures of MEAN MR. HEIDA! Scary..........

2009-04-06T21:56:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

So it has been a little while since my last post but i wanted to show you a few of my favorite pics that i have received in this last year of teaching. The first one the student actually showed to me while drawing the pic and said, "Mr. Heida I am drawing a picture of you, but I am having trouble drawing your ears!" I quietly told her, "oh....I have big ears, just make them as big as possible!" And that she did.

The other is from a former student that I will soon not forget.

Allan

New songs i am working on

2009-03-23T21:50:00.000-07:00

I took my little point/shoot camera and decided try and get a few of my songs down and out of my head. These are very rough cuts so they have no polish to them. Hope you enjoy.

Allan

I will get to grading soon....

2009-03-16T20:57:00.000-07:00

I started this blog while doing grading, (yes I know i am a slacker), but i couldn't help it. I just saw all of the things that I had around me and had to take in the moment. So here is what i saw around me and some thoughts surrounding those items.

ipod, laptop, a starbucks double shot (yumm), G1 cellphone, backpack with Bible, journal, notebook and well, tons of other little things. All of which are not essential to life, but make it all the more easier. I really do love my ipod.

Listening to my wine podcast, i am thinking about how much i have explored the world of wine and beer over the past year, it has been great. I went to Temecula twice just to taste wine and be with my girlfriend and sister. (and i am thinking about 1 more trip for my b-day) I have made beer twice and can't wait to make more. (something i will blog on more later)

Other ways i feel blessed.....

I have a great job where i have the privilege to influence, guide and try to enlighten young minds. Even though they have probably started me on a few gray hairs i really do love my job.
My family is amazing! The church i attend is not only challenging but very loving. And i could not forget my beautiful girlfriend whom has blessed my life in so many ways.

Well that is it for now, I just had to share that.........any thoughts?

Allan

Regular Gig!

2009-03-15T16:10:00.000-07:00

Hey Everyone,

Many of you know that i have played at a wine bar called Vin de Pays in Long Beach for a bit more than 6 months. Well its worked out that I will be regularly playing there about once or twice a month. I know some of you have been able to make it out and i have truly appreciated it.

my next 2 shows are

April 4th 5ish - 8ish

April 25th 5ish - 8ish

This really is just a fun place to take a date and relax, hope you are able to make it.

Click the link to check out there website.

Vin de Pays <----- (This is the link)

In Christ,
Allan

Report Card Time is here....

2009-03-09T20:58:00.001-07:00

Hey Everyone,

So, i wanted to write a short little blog about that all so important time....Report Card time! while students may fear this time, teachers abhor it. It is a time catching up with loose ends from the semester, getting that one student to get n their last bit of homework and well, see the fruits of your labor unfold or crumble before you. The picture below will describe more of my time spent out of the classroom this week and weekend.

Coffee, pen, ipod and time.

Allan

I love my lip......(warning a bit gross)

2009-03-04T21:34:00.000-08:00

Well, i must first caution you that the pics below are a bit gross, but kinda cool.

About 2 months ago, apparently, i bit my lip really hard. This caused a small saliva glad to block up and start to fill up with stuff that looked like something out of a cheap sci-fi movie. Anyways, i would have to drain my lip about once a week or else it would just get really annoying. I was never in pain, but it just kinda sucked.
Well, after a visit to the dentist, i was suggested to go to a special office at USC. This place is called the...Orofacial Pain & Oral Medicine. Ok, the name says it all, facial pain? I wasn't exactly thrilled to go there, but i wanted to get this done with, so i made an appointment and went.

I got there and they said it would take about a 1/2 hour to "extract" my salivary glad. So i said let's do it. They numbed me up and started cutting. All I could see was this giant booger looking thing being sliced out of my lip. It looked like something that you really hoped not to find in your soup. At the end of the "extraction", they stitched me up and said to come back next week. And that is where i am at now.

My lip feels ok. I am not in pain, rather it is just annoying having a thick thread attach to my lip. I am just ready to be done with this. Below are the pictures of my lip, I show all the kids in my class and each one had the same reaction...

"Awww gross.....that is cool Mr. Heida!"

Allan

From Drop Box

Yes i am Mean Mr. Heida

2009-02-24T20:38:00.000-08:00

Well, i had another post in mind, but this happened today and I can't pass up writing about it. I have a 2nd grade class and they are wonderful. I mean yes, they are 2nd graders whom all seem to have the attention span of a gnat, but when ever i have a sub i am always left with notes that say, "Great Class". I do have some challenging students, one of which has provided me with a few early gray hairs. We shall call him Daniel for the sake of this blog.

Daniel has given me more than a few stories which i will blog about later, but today i could pass up this story. Daniel has a hard time paying attention, like all young boys and well, seems to hear things much differently than all the other boys and girls. So we were doing centers today, when the students get into groups to re-read our last story in a group, do flash-phonics cards etc. The group Daniel was in had this assignment; to read a short story 2 times and then find the words with, "ee, ace, or ea" in it and WRITE a sentence using those words. I was with the flash cards group so when Daniels group was done i asked them what they were suppose to do next, and they said, "write sentences..?" I said yes, and I re-explained the directions. They all went down to their seats and started working, except Daniel. I called Daniel and said, "Daniel, i want see you start writing your sentences with the words from the story" He looked at me and said ok. i continued working with my original group until recess time came. So I started to dismiss the students by with work groups making sure each student had done their assignment, the only student who had not finished was Daniel. I asked Daniel where his sentences were and he said, "Ohhhhh....i thought you said write them in your head!" ending with a smile.
I said, "When have we ever just wrote them in our head?"
"Ummm....never?" he replied
"Correct, i want you to take your folder and finish your sentences at recess"
Tears started forming (yes i am ok with this). Daniel can also get a bit of an attitude, which came out at this point and he lost the rest of his recess for the rest of the day.
After recess Daniel hands me his paper and there are 3 sentences there
"I have a face. I like bees. You are mean."

Yes it is true, i am Mean Mr. Heida.

Hope you enjoyed this blog. I do have more to come.

In Christ,
Allan

new post coming soon

2009-02-23T16:56:00.000-08:00

yes a new post is in the works......

In the mean time i hope this video makes you laugh and/or cry...........

Allan

A little something

2009-02-16T20:34:00.000-08:00

So i haven't written in a little while and wanted to make just a little post about this past Valentines weekend. I did not spend it with Kelly, rather with 20ish jr/sr high kids in big bear. It was the Hilltop youth winter retreat. I was up to lead worship and be a chaperon (aka - dude to make sure kids don't die) It was a blast being in the snow, but getting there wasn't exactly quick. What is normally a 1.5-2.5 hour drive, turned out to be a 7.5 hour ride. I was riding up with 2 people that I didn't know very well, but by the end we were telling our lives stories. I really had a good time driving up with them and I am glad we got to hang out.
Besides the drive up, everything went really well. I got to go bowling and shopping with 7/8th graders, lead worship and well, just have a good time.

More to come later.

Allan

Beer and wine

2009-02-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

From Vin de Pays xmas show

I have been wanting to blog about my new come obsession with beer and wine for a while now and well, i have a 03 Napa Merlot in my glass and the Elliot Smith channel on Pandora so i don't know how better it could get to write.
A little history
I grew up with parents that didn't really drink. I saw my dad with a beer only on occasion. My mom has never really liked anything with alcohol so i never saw her drink. I saw other adults drink here and there, but it never had an automatic appeal. All through high school i knew kids that drank, but i never really wanted to drink with them because they just did stupid things while that drank and I didn't want to do that. In college it wasn't until i was spending sometime overseas in Germany that i found a taste for wine. I was in a little restaurant in Monterroso, Italy. I ordered a carafe of the house wine because it was cheaper than ordering a glass of water. It was great! A white, but it just was great. I told the people around me at the time, "yeah i could get used to this." That summer i had a Guiness with a buddy and i thought, "ohh...now that is good" and thus starting me off toward the pursuit of the better tasting beer.

Over the next couple of years i started to find out what i liked and didn't like. In wine i started in liking whites more, chardonnays were good, but i was still learning the different names. In beer i like Heineken and Guinness (total opposites i know). I never liked anything of the big 3 American beer (Miller, Coors and Bud), they all tasted like someone had poured some beer in water and tried to pass it off as something good to drink. Then as i started to try more beer/wine i found my tastes changing but i still didn't know what i was tasting.
When i moved to China I basically let go of the idea of having anything good to drink. Chinese beer sucks and well.........really sucks. I found a place or two to get a bottle of wine, but i all but gave up hope of finding any beer that didn't look like yellow water or any wine that didn't taste like it had fermented with a nickel in the bottle.
Coming back to the states i started off right back where i left off, not knowing much but willing to try anything. One day my sis (who is really becoming a wine aficionado) and i decide to go wine tasting. We do a little search on the internet and find Vin de Pays. We take the metro and head down to Long Beach. It is a small place with a beer wall and a flight of 8 tastings for 13.99 (good deal). It was here that i started to learn about beer. I found out that there were beers beyond what they had in the super market and it absolutely thrilled me! They were unfiltered and non-pasteurized. They were not yellow, but caramel or deep golds. I could taste hops, chocolates or spices in them. The wine had feeling. It wasn't just red or white now, but Merlot and Chardonnay. In it was cherry, oak, vanilla or berry. The world of beer and wine was now something to explore, not just look at from afar.

Today
Now beer and wine are a regular part of my life, but not dependants in my life. I have always told people, that i like beer and wine in the same way that i like art. I taste and see what there is to offer me in that sip. What is being expressed in that glass. What did the brewer or vinter try to show you in the glass that you have in your hand? Its not just because there is alcohol in the glass that i like to drink it. I really don't like being drunk. I have been drunk once in my life and i really don't ever plan on that ever happening again. When i do drink, i drink because i like or love what i have drinking. I am drinking because i want to know more about beer or wine, not because i want to mask pain or get away from it all. I will admit, there is something about a Corona on a hot summers day, not because it taste amazing, but because it is cold and refreshing. At the same time, i am never going to finish off a six pack because it is a hot day.

Now I am working out details to start playing regularly at Vin de Pays and am looking forward to being the house musician at a wine bar. I am also making my own beer, and if i may, the batches i have made have turned out really well. But i will blog more on that later.

Allan

Last nights gig

2009-02-07T09:58:00.000-08:00

So last night I played a little gig at Vin de Pays, it is a wine bar in Long Beach. I love playing there because it is such a relaxed atmosphere, the staff is really friendly and well, when I play there they give me a free beer. (mind you this ain't no Bud either) While the atmosphere may be relaxed, the task of playing for 2+ hours can be a bit daunting. I have a set of songs that I can do off the top of my head and play, atleast i think, well. On the other hand that takes all of 45mins, the rest i have to practice and practice and practice. I have started to try new things with tap guitar, which is a blast, but there is the danger of losing the auidence with songs that have no words. So I have a stack of tabs that I rely on to help me out. All those years of playing guitar at camp has really paid off. (please note the link)
Another great things about playing there is that I am background music. The best thing about being background music is the fact that you are exactly that.....background. It is a a great feeling, at least for me, to know that I am helping the make someones night out a little better. I look at the crowd and see people lightly wording the lyrics as they sip their wine and talk with their friends, its good.
Well, at the end of the night, i am cleaning up and counting my tips ($8 yahoo!) when i started talking to some of the staff. They said they wanted to know if i wanted to start playing there regularly. I was taken back! It was something that I have wanted to do, and here was my chance. They asked for me to play once a week! I wanted to say yes right away, but I knew i couldn't. Having a girlfriend in Thousand Oaks I spend everyother week or so over there and I am involved with my church. So I have yet to work out the details, but i think I am going to start playing at Vin de Pays on a fairly regular basis, hopefully once a month. If this works out it will really be a kinda small dream come true, so we will see.

Alright that is it for now, i will post details as they come.

In Christ,
Allan

Listening

2009-02-05T16:42:00.000-08:00

When i was in high school and even most of college, i was always the group leader. In high school this was mainly because i was the only kid willing to speak in front of the class or willing to ask the group a question. It was during this time that i found out that i actually liked being the leader. This would show as i would do all of the big "leader" things with my youth group and later on, small groups in college. I wasn't the most talkative nor did i always have something to say, but i usually lead, asked questions and then waited for a response. The SoCal retreat was especially good for me as it allowed me to direct a group of my own peers in a group discussion on the various topics of the weekend retreat. Then in college i started being part of different small groups on campus. My freshman year, prior to the wheelchair, i was involved in way too many. Service group, Groovy Guys and a few others. It was in college i started to learn about leadership through service. It changed my perspective on what it meant to be a leader. Rather than telling a group what to do, it is being the guide and more importantly, a servant to those who are in the group you are trying to lead. The Spiritual Life Advisor program at Pepperdine really shaped this idea in me.
Graduating and getting into missions and full time ministry as a new lesson. I had to learn how to speak up in my beliefs, but also i had to re-learn how to listen. I was having to listen with more intent on not only what some one was saying as in words, but what they were really trying to convey in idea and emotion. I knew about this through practice in other times in my life, but now it was a daily part of my life, almost survival, especially when someone doesn't event speak the same language. (yeah i am really good at charades now)
Now, in my life i am finding that i am listening more in group settings. I am part of a weekly Bible study and I noticed that I don't say much during the discussion. I don't know fully why this is. I mean, i love the conversation, and have things running in my head, but i don't say them. I am not ashamed or scared to say them, rather i am finding that i love to listen to other peoples thoughts so much more than my own. I am not a loner in the group (atleast i don't think so) and i have kept up with the reading, but as soon as i sit down with my cup of coffee, my ears turn on and tune in to what is going on around me with intent and I love it.

Allan

"You get an A+ in boyfriend"

2009-01-29T18:42:00.000-08:00

So I have given my review of the G1 phone (<----- this is a link to my review) that I got about a month or so ago, but I have yet to mention the story of how I got it.

Well, I had been following this phone for about a year (yes i am that much of a nerd) because I heard that it was going to have an open source operating system. (if i lost you i am sorry, please keep reading) Anyways, the price tag was about $179 in the commercials, but when i went to a few T-Mobile stores and they quoted me $370 before taxes as the offer was for new customers. So i decided to give T-Mobile a call.
A young lady about my age picked up and I told her that I wanted to know when my contract expires, she asked why and I said I wanted the G1 at the sale price, not the $370 i had been quoted before. Well, she tried and saw that she could take off $20 for me at the moment. I wasn't exactly thrilled but it got us talking about my plan. I have 400 texts a month and i said i use those to send a compliment to my girlfriend every morning before work. There was a pause on the phone and she said, "That is just the sweetest thing". We keep talking about my plan and she notices that i talk mainly at night, i reply, "Yeah, my girlfriend and I talk every night to unwind and to see how each others day went. I mean, I want to take care of my girlfriend. I make sure flowers are a somewhat regular part of her life, give her compliments and what not" The young lady then says, "You need to talk to my boyfriend, you get an A+ in boyfriend!" a minute later I am on hold when i hear, "Ok, sir? I got you the maximum discount, how about $170 and just $20 extra a month for unlimited internet?" I was speech less. "Ok, lets do that"
2 days later i had my new G1 in my hands.

Allan

Friends you should listen to......

2009-01-22T20:57:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

This is a fun one! I am showing off some of my friends that you NEED to listen to. They are beyond cool and i love talking music to any of these talented folk when ever i have the chance. All of their names are attached to links, so please click on a link, support an Independent artist. In no particular order here we go........

Michael Ocean
This guy is awesome. he is a true lover of music, all types, and puts anything which i consider to be music knowledge to shame. He is also in a Weezer video. (yes i am jealous) His album, The Manuel, is great. For sure, check it out.

Happiest Lion
Caleb, the man behind the music, is so creative. I wish i could be as into music as he is, just a plain out great musician.

Nate Highfeild and The Good Cheer
I have been following these guys since i was in high school. Nate and Aaron, are great guys and have made (along with the band) a great album. They are great to watch, Aaron (the drummer) is the most intense guy I have seen on stage. If he is playing for a few people or a packed room, he puts everything into that drum.

Brandon Louis Jones
Classical guitarist who makes me want to give up on anything guitar and just stick to listening to it being played much better than i could ever do. He has 2 albums out and i suggest that you buy both. His style is so smooth and well, i love any chance i get to hear him play.

Jonathan D. Roth
Another classical guitarist extraordinaire. He has written more than a few pieces of music that are complex yet, very welcoming to the ears. He too has a few albums out which you too should buy.

Long Beach Caravan Trio
Gypsy Jazz is a little nitch in jazz that is very overlooked by the main populous but is admired many musicians. These guys are good and i are just great guys to hang around. I saw them play at a restaurant in Long Beach and was so impressed by their style and talent. Please check out their site and give a listen if you have never heard gypsy jazz.

The Monochromes
These guys are just too much fun to listen to. I have known a few of the band members, Josh and Jordan, for a long time and well, it was very easy to for me to add them to my list. Josh is a great guitarist (far better than I) and I love to catch their shows.

Swing the Lead
While i don't know this band, i do know one of the guys - stephen - in the band, and well, he is cool so i just had to add him to this list.

Well have fun checking out the talent. New blogs will be coming.

In Christ,
Allan

My G1 (for Brady)

2009-01-15T21:19:00.000-08:00

Well, if any of you have Facebook, you have probably see my updates about my G1. Its a smart phone from HTC. I have been waiting to get this phone (which is a story in its self) for about a year and well, i am glad that i finally have it. So my review........

Ok, so G1......It is a good phone, not an iPhone killer, but for a first version it is really good.

Bad stuff....
battery - drains fast with the use of the browser or anything involving the GPS
Limited Apps - I just heard that the iphone kit 100k aps, seems to have only a few hundred at max.
No head phone jack! - you have to get a converter for a USB 2.0 connection.
Price - unless you are signing up for a new plan, the cost of the phone straight up is around $370

Good Stuff
So easy to use - the interface is so clean and so fun to use
Speed - browser has great speed.
Open Source - anybody can make ANYTHING for this phone. The possibilities for the applications is endless.
Feel - it is just a cool phone. Really, the feel and weight let you know this is a cool phone.

Ok, that last one may have been a little bias but really, its a good phone. I would recommend it, but for someone that doesn't already have a smart phone or wants to upgrade. If you already have a smart phone you like, hold out till the next version.

Guitar heros and muscial influences 2

2009-01-06T11:29:00.000-08:00

So this is the follow up to my last post about my guitar/musician heros. This is not meant to be a best of the best guitarists list, but my own personal list of musical influences. Some of these have links attached to videos of the artist and others have actual videos of the artists themselves.

So who to start with? Umm...in no particular order.....

Django Reinhardt - He is my definition of a guitar hero! His left hand was badly disfigured in a fire and he had to re-learn how to play with, basically, 2 fingers. But what he did was invent a new genre of music and a style of guitar which most people have a hard time playing with all their fingers. His music inspires me and i listen to him in many times when i have hit a musical wall. Please watch the vid

Jimmy page...YES! Who doesn't love this guy! I mean, now everyone wants a double neck guitar or how to use a bow.

Nickel Creek - So creative, especially 'Why should the Fire die'. Its not a country album nor a bluegrass album, it is a Nickel Creek album. They have their own style almost created their own genre. They know their instruments and seem to be draw every so much emotion and life out of them it makes me so jealous, yet i love them.

Chile Thile - AMAZING! let me say that again AMAZING!! His solo work, Punch Brothers and random recordings with other amazing artists, he makes me want to give up and try harder all at the same time.

The Edge - I know he is very "pop" and simplistic, but he just makes good music.

Jars of Clay - I call these guys the Weezer of the Christian music world. 1st album was great, then second album...well....not so well (at least at first for me). Then with time, i got to know the 2nd album better and now really like it. (note - Pinkerton is still my favorite weezer album)

Kaki King <- (please click on link if you have never seen her play) She rocks....this girl can play. I am still trying to learn playing with pink noise. i have been working with this song on and off for almost a year, and well, am no where near close to being able to perform this song.

Andy McKee - His attack is intense! He has no problem in what seems like he is beating the crap out of he guitar, but knows exactly what he is doing. He is one of the reasons i started to play in the "tapping" style.

Antone Duifor - This is what i would love to sound like one of these days. He is clear, complex and very good. It seems like he has poured over his songs over and over, not just practiced.

Jon Brion - I have seen him play live and his ability to improv is out of this world. Really, when you watch him play it brings you into the music. He can also play every single instrument under the sun. What makes him an influence on me is that he has such mastery over the guitar, he can pick up and play anything and i do mean ANYTHING he hears.

Jim Croche - My mom and dad introduced me to Croche. At first i thought of him as 'old people music' along with John Denver, and well, now he is one of my favorite song writers. I think about his lyrical style and ability to tell a story through song.

Robert Johnson - So eerie yet so captivating. One of my first CD's was his collection. The first song, Crossroads, grabs you, or it grabbed me. It was the first time i made the distinction in how finger picking can add so much to a song. I know more appreciate this skill as i have my own feeble attempts at this craft. He made me see this skill stand out.

Stevie Wonder - I love the musically and arrangement of his music. There is just something about the songs, "Superstition" and "I wish" that makes me want to better my skill at arranging my own work.

Elton John - He has probably one of my favorite rock voices. When i have tried to learn his songs, not only do i learn some new chord progression, but i have to learn some new vocal skill. i love it.

Christopher Parkening - A craftsman of the guitar. He has a great story too. I love his arrangements of several classical pieces, especially, Romanza. Every time i hear that song, i have to pause and take it in for at least a little while.

Andres Segovia - He is the 'Grandfather' of the guitar. Without him the guitar probably would have had a hard time getting out of the bars italy and spain. He drew the guitar into the spot light and made it a respectable instrument for study.

Modest Mouse - Listening to these guys makes you question what is really going on in their music. They have a great hand on their effects and bring out quirks and subtleties that bring a song to a new level. Listening to these guys have made me think so much more about what else is going on in my songs besides the melody and chord prgression.

Resse Roper - The singer for Five Iron Frenzy and Brave Saint Saturn, while not my favorite singer, there are a few songs that he has written that are probably some of my favorite worship songs. There is no way you could play them at church, but that is what is good about them. He has helped me find out that there can be worship songs beyond the set church/acoustic guitar.

George Harrison - When i heard that he didn't play the solo to While my guitar gently weeps, i almost cried. But then i started to really listen to the Beatles and have found out, that it is ok....he is still a great guitarist.

Wes Montgomery - The man can play! He doesn't use a pick, everything is done with his thumb and that makes it all the more amazing. I know there is no way i could explain his music with any authority, but for me personally, his music moves me. I makes me think about how i play, what i am putting (as in way of emotions or skill) into my music.

Well that is it for now. I mean, there are way more than this, but i thought this would do for now. In an upcoming blog, i would love to show off some of my on friends who are musicians. In the mean time, please comment and enjoy the music.

In Christ,
Allan

Of Allan and his guitar heros pt. 1

2008-12-26T21:41:00.001-08:00

So i pomised a blog about this a little while ago and I am excited to get to it, and that would be my obession/border line love affair with the guitar. I started playing a little over 12.5 years ago with my grandfathers late 70's Harmony acoustic that my mom bought for him at a garage sale. I now have about 3 acoustics, 2 electrics, a classical, mandolin and 2 ukuleles.

So how did it all start? Well, it started with a friend of mine, Jeff. We were best friends and he had his dads guitar laying around and started playing it, so of course I had to know a little something too. I found my grandpa's guitar and started at it. I remember that the first song I learned all the way through, and still do know, was Green Day's, "When I come around". A classic (well, now at least) I can't remember how long it took me to get that stupid song down, bt when i did i felt great. I learned something very important at that point and time, learn to play songs you like. My next song, and still probably one of my favorite songs to play was Weezer's, "say it ain't so". Playing that song made me feel like a rock star. It was also at the time when i knew the guitar was something i could get into.

Now for any other budding guitar player, the first few years are filled with pain and frustration. I was no exception. I tell people that the first 2 years should hurt, I know mine did. But as time went by my fingers grew more and more accustomed to the different chord shapes, althogh i still didn't really know want a 'chord' was. It wasn't until i was at a ministry camp that i leard was G-C-D-Em was and that was about 3 years into playing the guitar. I was and still am self taught. I rely mainly on picking up stuff my ear and looking at tabs. I wish that i had taken lessons, but glad for where not taken lesson has taken me so far.

Now being from the Chruch of Christ, there is a problem with me playing that guitar, and basically, it would be that I...play guitar. When i started I had no idea what kind of trouble that it could get me into! The church i grew up was great to me in this aspect. They let me lead worhsip with the youth group and I learned early on that there is a difference between leading worshp and singing in worship. But it wasn't all like that. I will always remember the little old lady that said, "your going to hell for that....you know right!?" There have been times when I was told I could lead worship with my guitar after a small gathering, and then, as soon as my part came they stopped everything and started passing out icecreme. I was not going to do my part there. This was something that i never expected to find when i started and don't it believe will ever truly leave me. I truly do understand why some people believe it is wrong and I hold nothing against them, i just disagree with them. I now find less and less of people that i disagree with about this, which i like, but at that same time, i hold nothing against those who disagree with me.

Well, I wanted to take some time in all of this and show a few of my guitar heros. These are people whos technique, skill and creativity I have ever so poorly tried to imitate and learn from. Please feel free to comment.....

This was a song that started so much of my fascination with the guitar. Its not just that these guys are fast, its that they are creative, very clean and VERY VERY fast.

You just have to love this song and this band. I still love to play this song and have grow to appreciate the skill that it takes to write a great song from these guys.

I saw Phil Keaggy at Pepperdine play this song and it got me hooked with what you could do with a guitar w/o the use of a pick. It was also the start of my want for a looping pedal. (which I now have)

Ok, I will be putting up another post of some of my other guitar heroes. I promise to put up more videos.

Allan

Things of China 2

2008-12-23T16:30:00.000-08:00

So this is a continuation of my previous China post "Things of China 1". In that post I talk about the lessons that I learned through being somewhat excommunicated while doing Work in China. It was a very dark yet very big time of growth in my life. Now I continue with what I learned in my last semester in China.

Again I am writing this not out of spite or anger, but rather to get some things off of my chest. It has been nearly 2 years since I returned and i have had some time to process my feelings and thoughts from that time. So here we go......

Coming back Cali

Getting back into California was heaven. I ate, ate, ate and ate. Cheese was on the menu almost everyday, as were Deluxe Chili Cheese fries from Del Taco and In-N-Out. It was interesting coming back to Cali because it was a major case of reverse culture shock. It wasn't that I didn't miss everything, it just I had to re-adjust to life in the states. Driving was more than stressful, super markets never seemed so big and well....I missed the Family in China. I loved being with all my friends and family in Cali and it felt so good to be with them, hang out, play guitar and well....drink amazing beer and wine. Anyone that knows me knows I love trying new wines and beers. I hate being anywhere near drunk for several reasons (First I know Our Father doesn't want us to be drunk and second I HATE not having control over my body, and well, hang overs suck.) But I love the art and craft of brewing and the skill and taste of wine making. They are liquid art. I say all of this because there was almost NO good beer or wine in China, I would have to go about 4 hours by bus just to get to a city where i could buy good beer, wine, COFFEE, bread, cereal, milk, cheese, candy, brownies, soups, PB & J or butter. Yeah, so I was in heaven.

Going Home
So being in Cali for a summer was great at the same time, I felt the pull of my former life in China. I left America with 2 things in my mind and heart. First, what in the world am I doing?! Was I not just going back to the lions den of loneliness? Second, I never want to fly on this airline ever again! Way too small seats and well....the movies sucked.
Getting back into my apartment was great. The first few nights were spent being around Brothers and Sisters that I loved. The big talk was about starting a new meeting as soon as they saw me. I knew to expect this, but I really didn't want to address this just yet. This was part of the past year still looming overhead. Many people wanted me to just start up a new Meeting and that would kinda make things better. I knew it wouldn't, but it sure did seem that way. I knew that if i started one by myself that it would still hold too many strings to what happened before. This may seem selfish, but it was never out of pride that I wanted to start anything new. I knew there Chinese were hurting, bad, yet if something new was going to start, i knew it was going to have to be not just becuase of me.

The Taylors
While settling in, I also heard about a new-ish couple in town, Taylors. They were from Tennessee and it kinda freaked me out. I knew i wanted to hang out with them, but didn't know how much. Within a week we had met and planed to hit up dinner and a tea house. Within the first few hours that i met Dale and Lisa i could tell they were different from many of the other foreigers that I had meet before in China. We just clicked. Our talk was filled with laughter and they had a vision very similar to mine, meetings where the foreigners were in 2nd or 3 place. Offering support and leadership but not being the "leaders". They wanted to be in China because of exactly that, they wanted to be in CHINA. Dale was reading a book about Mao and Lisa had a good grasp on Madarin much more than the other foreigners in our town.
With many of the other foreigners I felt like i had to walk on egg shells around them. One wrong word and I would achieve an awkard silence or rolled eyes. In some ways this was fairly amusing and I would do it just to get a reaction. Other times it was in moments of sencerity and I was looked on as wrong. With Dale and Lisa I spoke openly. Weather we agreed or thought totally in the opposite direction, we still showed a mutual love for eachother. I never worried about how i would make the feel uncomfortable that I enjoyed having A beer or that I like the Godfather. We were united because we had a common goal, serving our Father. And within a month we started something new.

A new Meeting
It was a small dinner at the Taylor's when we decided to start up a new Meeting. It wasn't a secret that we were thinking about it, but it took a bit of Thought (that is not a typo) and care to really decide if we wanted to do that. The last thing I wanted to do was cause another stir, but it seemed like if we continued to meet with the other foreigners THAT would cause an even bigger stir.
My thoughts at this time very mixed, and I didn't show it, or atleast I didn't think i showed them. I tried to act confident about what we were doing but it was such a worry on my mind. I didn't know how the other foreigners were going to act. If we were going to have to have a bunch of new 'meetings' about what was being taught or how we were wrong.
Looking back now i was scared. I had so many of the memories and feelings still clogged up inside me and i didn't know exactly how to let out. Dale and Lisa became refuge for me. We talked alot. Much of which wasn't serious, mainly just regular talk, something that anyone in a foreign country needs. It was relief not to walk on egg shells in conversation or wonder what would come back to haunt me.
We started the new Meeting at their place in mid-October, i think. It was a small group of mainly the people that didn't had felt outed or the other foreigners and a few new students that Dale and Lisa knew. It was simple, open and wonderful. I felt like so many of the other meetings tried to take American meetings and make them happen in China. We didn't want that and our Meeting showed it. We had several Brothers and Sisters share lessons, songs could be led by anyone in the group and the songs were sung all in Chinese and we tried to sing mainly songs written by Chinese. The Chinese loved it, but there were some challenges.
Several times we were asked why we didn't do things like the other foreigners. Then there was a time a Chinese brother was told we were doing things wrong. It was a challenge. We tried to answer with grace and love towards the other foreigners, but, atleast for me, it was hard sometimes. I think Dale and Lisa let these things roll off their back better than I.
Our Meetings went on, with numbers varying from few to many, but we really didn't care about numbers, we cared about the people coming.

Getting Ready to Go
For my last two and a half months in China I spent as much time as possible between Dale and Lisa and my Chinese Brothers and Sisters. There are many other stories to tell, but i don't want to get off focused too much. I mainly want to come back to the Chinese.
I knew early in the semester that this would probably be my last semester in China, atleast for a while. I had an student loans that i wasn't able to pay off and well, i wanted to get to paying them off and get my credential solidified. I didn't want to leave, really didn't want to leave. By the end of December I was planning a 3 week trip from Chang Chun (north eastern China) back down to jing Zhou. I had done this before and loved being on the road. As i was getting ready to leave so were many of the Chinese.
In China it is not uncommon for someone to just pick up and go in a weekend. One week a Brother or Sister would be finishing classes and then Friday say, "I am leaving to 'Random city on the other side of China' tomorrow, i want to say goodbye" Many people were looking and finding jobs all over the country. I made special time to hang out with some who had had an especially large impact in my life. They were the few that i had known since day 1. To me they were as close as an of my friends in the states and leaving them would be like any of my friends leaving. We had a great time! One of my favorite times was smoking cigars with some of the Chinese Brothers at a Tea house and then on another night going out to eat dog. (Yes, it is good and you should try it some day) We had a blast.

Leaving
I hit the road for my travels with a sad heart knowing i would be coming back just to say goodbye. It was a good trip, but i had some of my worst experiences ever! I visited a friend that was really struggling in some of the same ways that I had. She was with a group of other young women who were much more conservative than her. I came to visit for a few days and we had fun. I did happen to roll a couple of eyes as I play a song called, "Pink Triangle", but other than that, didn't cause too much of a stir. I then went to Beijing on a sleeper bus. I could write a how page on how bad that was, but will save you from it for now. From Beijing i went back to Wuhan and stayed with Marisol one last time. Again her place was filled with laughter and good food. I can never thank her enough for all the mexican food i had at her place.
Going back to Jingzhou was interesting. The ride seemed almost short. (a normal trip on bus was about 4 hours) I knew all the land marks and felt like i was really going home. I had only a few days before my plane took off to say my goodbyes and do some last minute shopping. It was a whirl wind of busyness.
The day i was suppose to leave I had a more than a few Chinese Brothers and Sisters stay the night at my place. They helped me clean my place, get thinges ready for the next guy and tried to help me pack. In the morning I got everything ready and had my bags in hand when i had to stop. It was a tradition that whenever a Brother or Sister would leave, the Family would gather over them. I had done this with many and now it was my turn. I have never been to filled with joy, sadness and hope. They spoke kind words in English and Chinese. My favorite request was that i find a "hot girlfriend" (check). I left feeling nothing but love and that love still remains in my heart.

A Uncertian Adjustment
Coming back to the states was interesting. I knew I wanted to go back to China and was telling people and myself to get back there by 2012. I still hold that to this day. My plans are to get the rest of my credential cleared, maybe go back to school for a masters and then head to China for a while. How long i don't know. I love the quote, "If you want to make The Father laugh, make plans" I am trying to keep my heart and plans open to His will. I know that I want to go back to doing that kind of Work, and China is very much in my heart, but I want to be willing to change to His will. That is still a lesson i am trying and will always be trying to learn.

Allan

Low Strung - Don't Stop Believing

2008-12-22T22:18:00.001-08:00

Probably one of my favorite songs covered by a quartet. I am watching the wedding singer and well, i just thought i needed to post this.

Allan

Of Girlfriends and Cobras

2008-12-17T18:10:00.001-08:00

As you know either through me or through this blog, I have a girlfriend. This is a good thing. I am a big fan of having a girlfriend and suggest this for many of my other buddies, just as they had suggested it for me. Now as being in a new relationship (3 months Dec 20) we are just starting to learn about each other; what makes us tick, pet peeves, likes/dislikes and the list can go on. Of the many many things that I finding out about her, I am finding that we do have some major differences. Not that these are bad, I don't want just a replica of myself, but since they are there we are trying to have fun in figuring out what to do with these differences.
One notable one that came up was about me planning a small trip to Uganda to visit a missionary family. Now, I have not been to Uganda but from the blog pics and stories it sounds like something right up my alley. I was on the phone with my lovely girl and was talking about my trip. She was so supportive in wanting me to go and fulfill the plan i have laid ahead of me. I was telling her of the different places i wanted to see, people i would meet and then i mentioned a small story about a cobra skin that found on the grounds where the missionaries live. To me this was awesome! Cobras in Africa! How cool! I mean, i want a cobra story, nothing involving death or permanent injury, but something that makes you go......wow! that was cool. Well, being new to a relationship i had yet to learn a new and important lesson, don't tell the girlfriend things cool dangerous things that you want to do in Africa. I started to explain to Kelly that I would love to and a "Cobra Story". I have stories about guns, weird foods, dangerous spiders and bugs, being lost (way too many of those stories) and well, a cobra story would be a nice one to add onto the list.
Then something caught me off guard...a small word...only 2 letters..."no". Huh? I thought to myself, what is this word? And who is saying it to me.......? Yes it was Kelly saying the word "no" repeatedly. Apparently she was not thrilled with the idea that i wanted a cobra story, and really didn't want me to have a cobra story. She said, "I don't want a dead boyfriend". At this point and time a few things hit me, 1) Kelly really cares for me and doesn't want me to die 2) Why doesn't she want me to have a cobra story!??!?!?
I have always been careful when i traveled, really, i don't like to have any trouble on the road, where ever i travel. And i never try to do anything too stupid, but there is this side of me...the "guy" side of me that thinks things like cobras are cool! I don't really want a cobra "major injury that leads to me losing an appendage" story. Rather a cobra "wow that was really cool and i lived without a trip to the hospital" story.

We will see what happens.

Allan

Things of China1

2008-12-09T19:22:00.000-08:00

Well I may be writing this for my own sake but I don't care. It has been just shy of 2 years since i have been back I have had sometime to reflect and look back at what in the world happened to me during that time. I have taken many an hour at different coffeehouses between 3 different countries and more than a few guitar strings broken in trying to put together the various emotions and thoughts that captured me during my time in JingZhou.

Before i get into any detail I must say a few disclaimers, the first of which would be I am not writing this out of any spite or malice towards anyone. Second, I do not write this to get back at anyone or try push any personal agenda. This is blog post is meant to get a few things off my chest. I have shared my story with many (including some of those who were with me in China at the time) and try to be as fair and loving as possible. I hope that all of the workers in China that i have known are doing well i want nothing but the best for them and their different works. I hope that Our Father makes their cup overflow.
This blog is meant to maybe help others that have been in a similar situation and as a personal therapy session. So where to being?

When I first got there.....

There are few things in life, (of this" long" life i have had), i will consider as such a joy as the first time I meet the Chinese brother and sisters of JingZhou. It felt like i was being welcomed into a family with open arms. They saw me not as an outsider, which i was by all respects, but as a brother, somehow coming home. This was apparent by the Chinese name given to me, mao mao, (roughly translated meaning "little cute hairy" thing, usually given to small dogs).
I tried my best to acclimate to the culture and they tried their best to show me how. It was a beautiful time. Any of the early church fathers would have been proud of the way they poured out their love towards me.
Meeting the foreigners was not exactly a homecoming. I was welcomed, but it felt more like I was the foreigner out of the group. There were things unsaid that came to become things assumed and later, things worth not saying. The more I hung out with many of the other foreigners the more I felt like I was the one who was from another country.

I came wanting to help but found out more and more that I, because of my beliefs, was "hurting" the group. I was the alien in an alien land. There were few foreigners that I could relate with, and now looking back, I saw what began a spiral into what I feel was a time of depression.

On being excommunicated.

It all started off with a prayer. Not even my prayer, but the prayer of a Chinese brother. He was not baptized in the traditional (as of Church of Christ) sense so he was not worthy of saying a prayer for the group. This started a chain of questionings that would lead me to more than a few "meetings" on who believed what and why. It was all basically fruitless, painful and well...wasteful. There was a pinnacle, a moment of truth where I was asked what exactly I believed. I did not give the answer others wanted to hear. At that point and time it was clear that I was no longer welcomed with the group i came over with. And worst off, some of the Chinese were even asked this question and did not give the "correct answer" and they too were seen as, "wrong". At the end of this meeting I was left alone. I was uninvited. I was wrong....not just my thoughts...but me, my soul, my inner most was wrong and therefore I was not to be trusted.

It is an interesting thing to be left out of church things as a Worker. I was never officially asked to leave, but of what everyone told me, I got the idea. Now, I was at a crossroads. Do I try to stick it out with the other foreigners or start something on my own? While this question was swimming through my mind I had something happen....forgiveness, kinda. I had several of the foreigners come and say they were sorry that they had treated me unkindly. I knew for some of them this was a big step and I gladly accepted it. On the other hand, I don't feel they addressed the real issue at hand. I was less concerned about how they treated me as how they treated the Chinese Brothers and Sisters. Also, about the example that was made from the situation.

In China it is not uncommon for Churches and meetings to happen totally unaware of each other. There are so many people, and while it is not illegal to be a Christian, it is sometimes not very popular. I wanted to teach and be an example of how Brothers and Sisters can still work and live together even though they may disagree on deep feelings. It made me think of the difference between "unified" and "conformity".

When we are "unified", it does not matter about what we disagree on, as long as our Father is at the center of it all. Where each person has their hand open to the Creator saying, "Here is what I believe and know, take it and form it to you" From here He is able to take and shape, break and mold into what He wants. Since He is in control of the shaping, people can disagree, yet still work together knowing that they are willing to be changed.
"Conformity" comes from the angel of, this is what I believe, which is what you need to believe too. From this approach, peoples hearts aren't willing to be changed. There is a shift in thought from, "Let's do this" to "You better do it like this". That is what I felt and that is what I knew my first year in China. I "didn't do things this way" and because of that I was to be watched and corrected.

Correcting and the East Side

I guess I needed alot of correction because it seemed like everything I did was "wrong". What I said/did and wanted to do during the Dinner, Singing together and well, sometimes it seemed even the way I read the Book was to be corrected. To all of this I tried to be a peace keeper, to submit and try not to cause a scene. I never intended to come and try to be different. I didn't want to be the guy that stood out from the crowd and cause others to go against the tide. I truly did want to work with the others, but it seemed like I was just not the "right" guy for it.
At this point I knew it was time to make a change. There was an open apartment on the other side of town and i decided to move on up to the East Side, campus that was. I cannot stress this enough, but my apartment was AMAZING! (for China that was)

I had a toilet that was on the INSIDE of the apartment, a tub with HEAT LAMPS! (Yay for dry laundry). I now had 2 sinks (as the last apt i was in had only one in the shower room), hard wood flooring and windows that i didn't have to cover in plastic to keep out the cold. It was awesome. It also provided something else....retreat. I had a place away from just about all the other foreigners and well....I am sorry to say that I really liked that. It was a place where many of the other Chinese Brothers and Sisters would come to know as a retreat as well. It was not uncommon to have 2-3 people spending the night 3-4 night out of the week. It was a time when people moved from being people I knew to become people I loved.

Depression?
With this new found retreat came new temptations. One of which was that to hide my feelings in and let them rot. I was not so much mad at anyone nor wanting apologies, I just felt alone. I must clarify, it was not alone that I didn't have friends there. There other Chinese Brothers and Sisters were a constant in my apartment and well, it was always great to have them around. I even had other foreigner friends in other cities that I visited on a very regular basis. No, it wasn't because of the lack of friends, it was the lack of connection. There were just so many ways that I felt that I differed from in my community that I let those things separate me more than they should have. I should have focused on things that we had in common, even if they were few than look at those things and see them as a separator. I let the fears and thoughts of me causing more trouble push me away from the group, rather than try to find ways I could connect. It was not a healthy choice.
I found myself seeking the dark. I watch DVD's till 2 or 3 am, not because I was interested, but because it when I knew I would be all by myself. I wanted to be be alone, because that is the way I felt on the inside. I wanted that to match on the outside because there were too many unknowns with trying to reach out to the others that I knew. I did not know it at the time, but this was a dark part of my life.

End of Part 1
I only experienced a few "highs" in China. It seemed like canyons, valleys and some sharp peeks. I feel this may be part of why I know I was meant to be there. I had heard that our Father calls us and tries us not because He wants us to be "happy", but becuase he wants us to "grow". Growth can hurt, it did for me. But it was growth, which is way more important than any "happyness" that I may know. The Father wanted me to grow, He knew, much more than I did at the time, what this would produce. Patience, endurance, perseverence and self-control are words that are much more real to me now than before.

I decided to go back, not because I was going to try and change the other foreigners or to start my own meeting, but becuase I knew i wanted to help, how ever that may be. I learned about some of my strengths and how I was blessed with an ability to help cultivate planted seeds, not so much the sowing/planting, there are plenty of those people in China. I knew of the need that I wanted to fulfill, I knew that even if i was alone, I wanted to be there for my Brothers and Sisters as long as I could.

I went home ready to recover and recharge, I went back wanting to rebuild and serve. I had no idea what Our Father had in mind, but it with just the help of 2 people, it changed my life towards work in the Fields.

More to come in Part 2

Allan

Jonly Bonly

2008-12-09T18:14:00.001-08:00

I like this guy, Henry Cho.

Vin de Pays

2008-12-08T21:39:00.000-08:00

So a little update blog.

I recently played a show with very the very talented and great friend of my Brian Jones at Vin de Pays, at wine bar/shop in Long Beach. I have to say that it was an absolute blast! Brian and I have played together several times between college and now out in the "real" world. He is an actor by trade but has been playing guitar longer than i have by several years. He knows how to improv and solo on the spot (both things i suck at) and can sing very well (again something i suck at).

It was a great time and I hope that we are able to play again in the somewhat near future. Check out photos.

Allan

2008-11-23T20:29:00.000-08:00

Yes I am excited about Thanksgiving!

For The Brothers and Sisters in China

2008-11-19T17:50:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

So this is going to be my attempt at blogging. I have tried a few other times but nothing has really stuck so here goes with this one.

Ok, well where to start? I was thinking about this for a while now as I was customizing and configuring out this thing and talking with a good friend and Brother I have figured it out....what in the world has happened to me since coming back from China, yeah it has been almost 2 years now!

First and foremost I must start this entry by saying how blessed I feel to have had such an opportunity to have gone to China for the work I did. So many of you are in my constant thought and the love i have for many of you is like that of my own blood family. I miss all of you and wish I could be with all of you for a big bowl of dog hot pot or sip tea in a balcony or sing in an over crowded apartment.

So, since China....Well when I got back I was still wondering what in the world i was going to do! Well a door was opened by His Grace as a position working with the youth (teenagers) at my old church opened up. I started working part time about 3 weeks after i had landed. I soon found out that working with youth in the church is never a part time position and i went full time after about 2 months. The job was awesome! I loved it! Yes it was alot of work and my schedule was crazy at times but i had an amazing time. It strengthened in me the idea that i could work in a Church or other ministry for a while if teaching didn't work out all that well.
During my time working for the church I found out so many of the things that I had learned working with the other foreigners there helped me be a better servant to the youth. I had a new apperication for submission as a leader and a greater respect for those who are over me. I am not saying everything was great between me and the people over me all the time, but many things that would have caused me to want to rebel or resist I tried to take with an open heart. I am not saying that i was perfect at this, but I know there was a difference.

Well after about a year of doing the whole youth thing, i was let go by the church. Not fired, but let go. I started working for an ESL school teaching mainly 20-40 yr olds advanced English. It felt very comfortable to do and was a small paycheck, which I was happy to have. A week later i started subbing in the school district that i grew up in. My week became, work in the morning get home work at night and then go to bed. I did this schedule from February till about this past Octubre. I went to sub for a class that had no permanet teacher and 3 days later i was hired as a long term sub. I continued to work at the ESL school till the term was up and then quit. My students at the ESL school were so great. I felt a connection with them as I had just too recently been in a similar position as many of them were in. I still keep in contact with a few of them and I consider them my friends.

Well now I am a long term sub for a 2nd grade class. While 2nd grade (6-7 years old) is not my first choice to teach, i do love my class. Yes, they are very cute, but at the same time can be a handfull. I already have many a great stories from my class that i will start to share at a later time. But i will have this sub position until February when the regular teacher is suppose to come back in.

Oh, yeah, many of you already know, but i must mention this, I have an awesome girlfriend. I know many people in China and America have already talked a bit to me about this, and yes i am very happy right now. Here is some dirt for you.....We met at Pepperdine while we were both students, but never really thought of eachother in any way other than being friends. This past May i saw her again at the Pepperdine lectures and we then started to message each other on myspace and facebook. A few months later we had coffee, then a little after that had our first date and the next thing i know i am changing my facebook status. Kelly is truly a blessing in my life and I am so glad our great Father let our paths cross.

There is so much more i could write about from these past 2 years, but i will make this breif for now. I have a feeling, after writing this blog, that I won't have a problem finding things to write about. I think for the next blog it will be a multi-part blog about what I feel i have learned from my time in China.

To all of my Brothers and Sisters in China I miss you and hope that we see eachother sooner rather than later.

Much Love,
Allan

A few pics for you

Jon Brion

2008-02-10T17:03:00.001-08:00

Awesome song

Test Blog Post

2008-02-10T16:31:00.001-08:00

Test Blog Post

By Allan