Much aBlog About Nothing

For Those That Do Not Know

2008-02-20T10:01:00.002-06:00

This will be my last post on my blogger.com blog. I moved a while back to wordpress, but now I am officially discontinuing posting on here. So, please click this link: MY OFFICIAL BLOG and it will bring to my real blog. Also, if you have me blog-rolled, change my address on your link to michaelgriffis.com. Thanks so much for your loyal viewership. I look forward to seeing you and hearing form you in the future at michaelgriffis.com.

Shadowfeet

2008-01-15T14:16:00.001-06:00

Today in the office, we had a friendly-ish discussion. It was explained to me that the reason I don't have a CD (barring the obvious lack of talent and the "it" factor, not an utter lack of talent simply not-recording worthy) is because of my inability to think outside the proverbial box. First of all, get out of the box and call it a circle or something. Get out of your circle would be a "creative" way to say the same thing. Then people would think you are talking about an Altell commercial or something, so maybe not. I digress (such a box-dweller's word for a transition back to the topic at hand), this discussion came up with my opinion that Brooke Fraser chose a ridiculous title for her song, "Shadowfeet."

Here's a video of the song:

Here are the lyrics:

Walking, stumbling on these shadowfeet
Toward home, a land that I've never seen
I am changing
Less and less asleep
Made of different stuff than when I began
And I have sensed it all along
Fast approaching is the day

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you

There's distraction buzzing in my head
Saying in the shadows it's easier to stay
But I've heard rumours of true reality
Whispers of a well-lit way

When the world has fallen out from under me
I'll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I'll be found in you

You make all things new

My thoughts and opinions:
She was apparently proud of her made-up word and decided that would be a cute title. I, being the opinionated box-dweller, felt as though the song would be better served to have the title "Found in You" the hook line of the chorus or maybe "All Things New" the bridge. I'm speaking simply from a marketing standpoint. Mind you, I am not a marketer, but have done so before. Granted, if I were great at it, maybe I would still be doing it. Regardless, here's my humble, amateur thought:

First of all, that title is unattractive. Sure, it is slightly intriguing, but unattractive enough, in my opinion, to negate the intrigue. Only because I knew the artist, was I even vaguely interested. Upon hearing the song, I never even noticed the word "shadowfeet" in the lyric. What rang out to me were the obvious hooks. Is it boxy for me to want her to title her song in such a way that the name of it is as pleasant as the song itself? Why wouldn't she want to make the message more plain and simple, and in so doing make it more accessible. Perhaps, she doesn't want "everyone" to hear the song or "everyone" to get her music. Perhaps. But if she desires to be exclusive and limited in her reach, why then does she need a deal with Sony? Be underground and creative and sell to your hundreds, I say.

I understand that I am a completely unimaginative, uncreative person, but I stand by my belief that the title is ridiculous. Now, you could argue that I am simple. I agree. You could even say, I'm not creative. Also true. But, I do want to know what you say. Please chime in and share your opinion of my thoughts and/or your opinion of the song and/or it's title. Where do you stand on "shadowfeet?" Get it? Stand . . . feet? I kill me. So, to the Bob's of this world, I challenge you. Convince me, with or without insulting me, why this is a fitting and worthy title.

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow

2008-01-04T21:25:00.000-06:00

Well, it has taken a long time, but I finally have followed through with my promise to all 3 of you that read this blog. Many had spoken, quite some time ago and I think the overall vote was to get rid of my locks of hair. Anything worth doing is worth doing well, so if I was going to get this done, I had to go to the best of the best: Joel at Salon Londyn. He's absolutely amazing. I couldn't just cut it to cut it, so I donated it to Locks of Love. Which means, in the near future, some little girl will be roaming the streets of America with my hair!

Before (aka- the Griffis you've all come to know and love):

In Salon Londyn, with my fate and hair in the greatest hair styling hands in the world.
The Cut (there will be a video of the cut coming soon):After (aka-The new and more responsible looking Griffis):
In my Christmas Sunday best, a whole new man!:
All comments are appreciated! Good and Bad!

Swiss Finale at Jungfrau

2008-01-04T10:54:00.000-06:00

The following are from our last few hours in Switzerland. We had limited time, but WOW was the view ever worth it. These photos are among my favorite from our trip and in no way come close to truly capturing the beauty of God's creation that is the Swiss Alps.

But first,

Our last night was spent in Lauterbrunnen.
Our last Swiss meal was served here at the:

The view from the street as the cloud coverage began to lift

The sun peeking out across the valley finally

And our first clear glimpse of the snow capped Alps
from our restaurant table outside

As quick as the sky cleared, night came and we spent our last night here:

The next morning came very early, because our time was very limited. Weather had beed a huge obstacle for us, but we knew it was going to finally be clear enough to enjoy Jungfrau. So, for about $250 bones, we took a very brief, yet very worthwhile trip to Jungfrau before departing for Italy.

Most of these shots were taken from our train
on the way up to and back down from Jungfrau.
After about an hour, our destination is in finally in view
The contrast freaks me out a little, lush green
and white snow, just minutes away.
This would be the highest altitude urinal I have ever used
Chillin' with my rib in the Glacier Caves
Saw my very first polar bear
and eskimo
This tunnel was a bit smaller than the others Outside on Jungfrau
I believe this is us in front of Eiger
Snow for days!We leave our mark everywhere we go
Stupid train cable messing up a my shot
Seriously, Sound of Music anyone?
What a view!
How Great is Our God!
I love the Staubbach Falls in the valley!
I told you I loved it.In the distance, left of the falls,
but just right of center you can see a hang glider.This stream is all melted snow from the many mountain falls

That's the end of Switzerland. I will be back soon with Italy stuff among many other things. I will no longer force Europe down your throats back to back to back.

A Long Time Coming

2008-01-03T15:44:00.000-06:00

Sorry about the severe delay, but Football season and Fantasy Football got in the way of my blogging time. A man can only spend so much time in front of a computer! So, as promised, here are some more pics from Switzerland! After this comes Italy, but I will be posting a lot in the next weeks to get you all caught up on all things Griffis! Boy, is there a LOT to share!

Switzerland 'til the end:

True Swiss Attire

Mercedes Dump truck

Not Eidel Weiss, though I took pictures of every small white flower!

Chess Anyone?

Baa Baa Brown? Sheep

The Hills Are Alive With the Sound of Music

Classic Swissman

OK, so there are still a lot of photos of Switzerland left, the best ones are from Jungfrau, the top of Europe. So, I will post them later tonight or tomorrow and move on. I apologize again for the delay and the boredom if you hate pictures.

And Then Came the Morning

2007-10-02T13:26:00.000-06:00

Jill and our new friend, what's his name, on our way to eat dinner at the Mountain Hostel.

The View from the Mountain Hostel

So, your thinking wow what a great view. That Griffis sure is blessed. And it truly was, until the morning came. I was all excited and jumped out of bed to capture the mountain view in the morning. Open the window and nothing. All I see in front of me is cloud cover, fog and nastiness! I couldn't see the ground, let alone any mountains. Bummer! Especially because today we are heading to Jungfrau, the highest achievable point in Europe. Well, not so much. The forecast looks grim and we are destined to what turned out to be the worst day of our trip.

We had heard that the weather might break around noon, so we decided to head to Schilthorn Restaurant where they filmed the Bond movie, "On Her Majesty's Secret Service."

Here's the lovely view from the Sky car to Schilthorn.

And the glorious view of the mountains all around, from our table in the rotating restaurant.

All I can say is this:

So, we thought let's walk down to Gimmelwald and make something of this waste of money up here and saw this sign.

Not bad, until I realized that the Std. is hours. Not wanting to walk 3 hours and 45 minutes, we took the gondola thing back down to Murren and walked from there.

The next post will follow shortly and will be only of photos from Murren to Gimmelwald.

A Room With A View Please

2007-09-20T13:35:00.001-06:00

OK, so we made it to Gimmelwald and asked the lady at the gondola station how to get to Hotel Mittaghorn. Mind you, both Jill and I have on full backpacks and we both have our 25" rolling suitcases full and roughly 50lbs each and we have our cameras and other junk strapped to the front of these suitcases. So, the lady tell us go up the path and take a right and it's about a 5 - 7 minute walk. Awesome. So we head down the path, take a right and then we come to a dead end. No Mittaghorn. No way, she couldn't possibly . . . . there's no way we are . . . .

Apparently, we are. A short (wet from rain) gravel road, then these steps were our route to the Hotel. Don't think it looks that bad? Well, that is a shot to the 1st turn. Here is the view from the other end:

Can you say miserable? Well, if that wasn't bad enough: I was tired already, Jill was tired, we were wearily dragging our suitcases up the steps and I noticed one of my wheels starting to bend out. So, not wanting to damage our suitcases and also not wanting to have to carry them the rest of the trip without wheels, I was forced to lift both suitcases and walk these steps. 50lbs on each arm may not seem a lot to you, but to me that was a lot. Add to th e fact that it was a bulky 50 lbs and both bags were slamming into me the entire way up. It was, to say the least, not fun. So to make matters worse, when we get up the ridiculous stairs the manager is sitting outside the place and he informs us that we could have stayed on the paved road and walked about 20 minutes around the village and made it there just the same. Thanks gondola lady. Like she didn't notice the ridiculous baggage that we were carrying. I'm not bitter though, at least we made it.

As tired and frustrated as I may have been, even more so after I carried our stinking suitcases up three flights of stairs (no elevator here) to our room, the view was worth it all! open the window to and door to our little balcony and directly across from you are Jungfrau, Monch and the Eiger Mountains. You don't believe me, have a look for yourselves:

This is Gracie!

2007-09-18T09:37:00.001-06:00

This is my precious little Gracie. Isn't she the cutest dog you've ever seen? Well she is to me and that's all that matters.

Well, Gracie isn't just cute. She is also really smart and has chosen against all odds to be an LSU fan. She even asked her mom to buy her a jersey. And her mommy did not disappoint:

So, being an avid LSU fan myself, I felt that I needed to test my dog's sports knowledge and loyalty to her team. So, I talked to her about Flynn and Perrilloux. She agrees with me that Flynn is the better option for the team. He's got a better grasp of the offense and a better head on his shoulders for decision making. He's even faster, but we also agreed that Perrilloux has a better arm and a prettier throw and better moves on the run. But, there is still no question we want Flynn at QB. So, Gracie is pretty articulate when it comes to her team of choice. Kudos Gracie. Satisfied that she is an opinionated fan, but not quite certain how avid she is I mentioned the two words to her: Florida and Alabama. This was her response.

Not bad, so I took it a step further and mentioned the once beloved one: Nick Saban.

Enough said, though I'm certain she, like me, would love that dude again if he came back next season when Les is gone to Michigan.

Jokes, Jokes, I Make Jokes

2007-09-14T09:32:00.000-06:00

So, I got my bag and everything was in it. I just thought I would have a little fun. I know that most of you didn't even read the last couple of posts because they are too long, but I enjoyed writing them.

Anyway, so the weather is really disgusting in Switzerland and we are finally heading to Gimmelwald via Lauterbrunnen.

Isn't it lovely?

So, maybe it's not, but at first it's still awesome just knowing that you are in the heart of the Swiss Alps. Emphasis on "at first." So, we get to Lauterbrunnen to catch a connecting train to Gimmelwald. Lauterbrunnen is a nice little town in the valley of the Alps. They have great waterfalls and as my wife can attest, I love waterfalls. Here is a shot of the most famous one:

Staubach Falls

It was also here, in Lauterbrunnen, that we caught our first view of the snow-capped Alps through the rain and clouds that seemed to smother everything beautiful about the area.

From here, we take a train and gondola lift to Gimmelwald village of the famous Hotel Mittaghorn on Mount Mittaghorn directly across form Jungfrau.

Danke Shen? (Hallo Svitzerland Continued)

2007-09-13T16:21:00.000-06:00

So, we are sitting there and approaching the landing for the ferry. I'm getting more and more anxious every single minute. How much longer is this stinking ferry ride? So, finally we see the landing ahead and the guy that I had spoken with earlier comes up tom me and says he's working on finding my bag. Just wait and he'll be right back. Meanwhile, the captain announces the final stop and everyone must unload. Great, now what. So, I try to be the last person on the boat and cannot seem to find the guy I was talking to.

Then here comes my little friend with not much more information. Hey follow the captain. Who's the captain? That guy right there. Just follow him. OK. Still not sure what was going on, I follow the captain to the ticket booth for the ferry. He tells me to go to the window, so I do just that. The lady asks me if I need a ticket and I do not, so I say no and let the people behind me go ahead. Meanwhile, el Capitan says something to the lady in the booth, lights his little cigarette and heads back to the ferry.

Still confused and now afraid that dude misunderstood me completely, I walk up to Cappy. He turns to me and says, "go there, go there." Then he just walks off. So, I go back to the booth and the lady asks if i need a ticket again. I told her i didn't think so, but the captain just told me to come here about my bag being left behind at the restaurant. She nods, picks up the phone and says some stuff in German (the Swiss don't have there own language). She hangs up and give me the incredible news. they have my bag and they are sending it on the next ferry. It will be there in about an hour and a half. Sweet!

Then I think, wait I never described my bag to anyone. I just mentioned that I left a bag. What if the bag they found wasn't mine? Tired of trying to explain myself to the Swiss, I just decided to trust that I was only person that had left a bag laying around. So, the Jillster and I decide to put our luggage in a locker and hang out in Interlaken until the ferry gets there. While we waited we made a reservation at a very cool little place in Gimmelwald via phone so we had a place to stay and went shopping for Jill some shoes. Then we saw this car:

Suddenly, it seemed this rainy, nasty day would turn out OK after all. Right?

A little while later, we head to the ferry and the booth lady heads over to greet the little ferry with my precious little bag on it.

So, one by one people unload. None of the ferry employees seem to be moving off the boat. No one has my bag in hand. Seriously, is this some kind of joke? I'm just trying to be patient and sit back hoping someone raises my little backpack. . . .

GEAUX TIGERS!

2007-09-12T13:19:00.001-06:00

I nearly missed my first LSU home opener in about 6 years. But apparently sweet baby Jesus wanted me there. I was just sitting back chilling at my tailgate when my good friend Reynolds Leblanc places this magical piece of paper in my hand. He was walking a friend to the car and found this on the ground. I waited outside the gate and checked with a few people that seemed upset to see if my ticket was theirs. After a few clearances, I headed in and enjoyed the game. I even found the brother of one of the people outside so he could get in. With that said, that was probaly the best game I have ever seen in Tiger Stadium.

Hallo, Svitzerland!

2007-09-12T08:36:00.001-06:00

So, we made it to the land of the Swiss. We actually arrived right at the end of Swiss Day. Our little train arrived an hour late into Bern, so we had to wait another hour before we arrived in Interlaken. So technically, we missed Swiss Day all together. So, we arrive in Interlaken only to find that there is no one there. Well, we were there with a group of college students backpacking and five old people. Eventually, we all got cabs to our hotels. So, 12 minutes and 40 Euro later we arrived in Iseltwald, a little village on the lake in the valley of the Swiss Alps.

We arrived very late and as we waited for them to look for our room key, we met to girls from none other than LSU. How random is that? Of all the people to run into, two LSU students. So, we chatted about the upcoming football season and enjoyed English conversation. Anyway, apparently, we arrived so late that our little hostel/hotel had given our room away for the night. So, they got us in a lakeside room with bunk beds for the night. Yahoo! Just what we always wanted, bunk beds for me and my wife. We had the room booked for 3 nights, but we decided immediately that we would stay here for only one night and just go hunting for rooms the rest of our trip. So, one night down and this was our view in the am.

It started out a bit overcast, cleared up for a minute, then rain all day! YEA!

You see that handsome, happy couple? Well, they didn't stay that way for too much longer. Here, we were waiting for the ferry to bring us back to Interlaken, so we could head up to Lauterbrunnen and get in the heart of the Swiss Alps. While we waited, we decided to head into the little restaurant in the Strand Hotel, seen here:

We didn't have a lot of time, so we just got a lite dessert and paid our bill just in time to see our ferry rolling in. Off we go, grab our bags and get on the ferry. Here are some shots from the ferry of the mountains around.

So, I'm taking these photos and decide to go get the video camera. Hey, Jill can you get me the vi . .d. . .e . . . . . oh crap! Where is my backpack? Are you kidding me? Where is my bag? You guessed it, I left my backpack in the Hotel Strand restaurant. So, I'm totally freaking out. Our video camera, our Eurail passes and our passports are in that bag. I throw up a little in my mouth and decide to see how long it would take until we could get back to the hotel there and hopefully find my bag untouched. So, I went to talk to one of the ferry employees. He told me the fastest way to get back was, after we arrived in Interlaken in about 30 minutes, to take a cab back. Depressed at the idea of spending another 40 Euro, I explained to the man why I was so anxious to get back. He went to see if he could get a phone book so he could call the hotel for me, but came back with nothing. So, we are sitting on the ferry that lasts forever and praying that my bag will still be there when we get back in about an hour.

2007-06-30T20:40:00.001-06:00

Hello people, I'm at The Police concert right this minute. So far, so amazing! I'll have more photos and details later.

Moving On To Bigger and Hopefully Better Things

2007-06-06T16:02:00.000-06:00

Goodbye Blogger. Hello Wordpress! That's right, I have been working on it and have now brought it to a nice enough place where I can comfortably make the switch. Blogger just had too few options for me. So watch out world, Griffis is blogging in a fresh new way. The only downside is that my old blog had 5000+ hits, but at least about half-way into it I created the cluster map for michaelgriffis.com and will be able to transfer that to the new site.

Anyway, stop by and let me know what you think of the new place. Is there anything you think I am missing? Let me know. The new page is still under construction as I dabble, so enjoy and comment away. You just might make the recent comment list. I hope to see you soon!

New Blogger, Kind Of, But Not Really.

2007-06-05T10:20:00.000-06:00

We have created a St. Francisville Refuge Blog.

This will be a great source for upcoming events and crazy photos and videos of all things Franny-Fuge. So check it out and tell anyone you know from St. Francisville about it, so they can know what's up.

I Give Up!

2007-06-05T08:02:00.001-06:00

OK, so this isn't exactly as it was before, but I am reneging on my layout changes. You have spoken and your opinion counts here at michaelgriffis.com. Thank you for your help and please let me know if you have any ideas that could help me here. I said good day.

New Look

2007-05-31T15:25:00.000-06:00

As you surely have noticed, I have a new blog layout. I wanted to segment my blog a bit more, add some different colors and brighten it up overall. I'd like to know what you think. So, if you care at all and have an opinion, please click on comments and leave me yours.

Promise Fulfilled

2007-05-31T08:04:00.001-06:00

Not that you care at all, but during the ConGraduations! post I promised you videos of me on the Segway. Well, here they are! The first shows my mad skills as a Segway Artist!

This one features me in the round. Not unlike the songs.
So, let the music play! Figuratively, of course.

I'd like to give a special thanks to DJ Howard, boyfriend of the not so frequent blogger Gabi, for this lovely footage!

Get Your Summer On!

2007-05-30T08:34:00.001-06:00

We had an amazing weekend in St. Francisville. The Refuge Slip and Slide was awesome! I will follow up soon with some pictures. But, that is in the past and we have a whole lot more to come. Check the summer schedule above and if you are a student in St. Franny, come out and join us. You can click the schedule above for a ginormous version.

This will be one wild and crazy summer packed with opportunities for you to come and hang out, let your hair down and have a blast. There will even be opportunities to give back to the community. I'm telling you this is going to be an incredible couple of months. You do not want to miss this summer in St. Franny! Stay connected and get involved. We're here for you!

If you need more specific details, let me know.
This Friday night at the office starts at 8pm.
For the Tiki Tubing trip, we will meet at the office at 9am.

Happy Memorial Day

2007-05-28T14:11:00.000-06:00

Me and the wife at the In-laws house. And a good time was had by all. Thanks to all those who gave thier lives for our freedom and to those who are standing for us still! Never forget the sacrifice that was made!

Annoying Sisters

2007-05-25T08:02:00.000-06:00

So, as you can see if you read comments on people's posts, my sister was truly desperate for someone to respond to her blog about songs in important years. Well, annoyed by her barrage of comments, I denied her the comment she longed for and simply acknowledge her blog now by posting my own dates. So these were the number one singles on my important days in history, thanks to this site:

My Birthday - "How Deep Is Your Love" by The BeeGee's
My Wife's Birthday - "Physical" by Olivia Newton John
My High School Graduation - "This Is How We Do It" by Montell Jordan
My Wife's Graduation - "All For You" by Janet Jackson
Wedding Day - "Candy Shop" by 50 Cent featuring Olivia
The Day My Sister Sent an Annoying 32 Comments -"Buy U a Drank (Shawty Snappin')" by T-Pain featuring Young Joc

If only she had waited until June 1st to annoy me: Maroon 5's "Makes Me Wonder could have been Number 1.

i hope you have enjoyed today's episode of blogorhea.

ConGraduations!

2007-05-23T08:33:00.000-06:00

Watch out James Bond, the class of 007 is out the door! Congratulations to all of our graduates at HPC. Especially all my people in St. Francisville! Yes, St. Franny where you get a Senior Superlative for Best Truck, Best Hunter and Best Fisherman.

See, I told you.
The actual graduation was only the beginning. The real fun was at Project Graduation, where my lovely wife and I were chaperons.
There's my sweet, little lady!

We had a blast! We played Wii
,
there was a money booth where they have money blowing around and you see how much you can grab, Sumo wrestling
,
inflatable obstacle courses, a gaming section for poker, monopoly and black jack and I mustn't forget the massage center. Now that was amazing! My wife made it until 2:30am, but I stayed for the long haul, 6am. Speaking of the long haul, do you like that segue? What about this Segway:

The rented 6 of those bad boys for the whole night. This, aside form the massage center, was the true highlight of the night! Those things were so much fun! I will post the video of me on the segway as soon as DJ sends it to me. By the way, if you want to bless me, they only cost about $3500 used, so hook me up! I smell a fund raiser!

Golf Anyone?

2007-05-18T08:05:00.000-06:00

So my buddy Stogie 1 and I hit that driving range yesterday. Generally not much of a story, unless you saw me in my shorts and tennis shoes. Now that is hot! Seriously, if you don't believe me check out my video below. Be careful though, my wife gets very jealous. Anyway, the real story here is with this huge, half golf ball in the middle of the range.

Yeah, that one.
Well, it may not translate as well on the blog, but I have been to this range many times and a goal of every avid golfer, like myself, is to hit your ball in the big golf ball. Mind you this was more difficult before the hurricanes blew half of the ball away. Still, many times I have gone to the range and many many times tried and failed to hit anything in the big golf ball.

Until yesterday. Stogie told me that the last time he was there he made it in. I doubted him, so we began to try and hit our golf balls in there. A few minutes into trying, Stogie gets a hold of one and seconds later we hear the thud of victory as his ball lands in the target. Several minutes later, the unthinkable, unimaginable. . . I missed again. Oh and then I MADE IT! That's right, I'll be signing autographs later, but I made it in the big golf ball. How do like them apples? Well, Stogie liked them a lot and made it again. Twice in one bucket of balls, he found pay-dirt, plastic actually. Try as I might, I only made the one. That is quite remarkable either way if you ask me. If you don't think so, just check our swings. Stogies is nice:

mine not so much:

I love golf! . . . and my anger management classes. No golf clubs were hurt during this recording!

Lawn Care at It's Finest

2007-05-17T20:54:00.001-06:00

I have an official corporate sponsor of my blog. Southern Green Lawns, LLC. OK, well not really but I did get this nifty t-shirt for free. Thanks DJ! The shirt looks awesome. That Gabi sure does know her way around Photoshop. Anyway, call them digits on my back if you need your lawn truly cared for in a most excellent way. Rock on little DJ! Oh yeah, congrats on graduating!

School's Out and Slip-n-Slide Is In

2007-05-17T14:25:00.000-06:00

All my people in Franny-town get ready to get your slide on. That's right, the 3rd annual St. Francisville Refuge Slip-n-Slide is here. There will be slip-n-slide, swimming, volleyball and my favorite FREE FOOD! You don't want to miss it. It will be Saturday, May 26th at the Howard's on Hwy. 10. Be there or be Rhombus, Rectangle or maybe even Square. And I don't mean dancing. We'll see you there from 3-6 in the pm on the 26th. Later!

PS: That's right, Griffis made that flier!

Oprah's On

2007-05-16T09:40:00.000-06:00

I found this video very interesting and it seems to support my long standing opinion that Oprah may just be the anti-Christ. OK, so she's not the anti-Christ, but with all that power she is a bit scary. Why do people watch her and believe she is a Christian? She is a good person, but lady is mixed up in her beliefs. Though I will also add, she doesn't give nearly as much away to those in need as is implied, her sponsors do. She just puts her name on it to advertise for them and make them more money and in-turn make herself and Stedmond more money. Oprah, what a joke. Though she does have some compelling arguments that we as believers should have answers to. Do you have the right answers?

Mother's Day for Momma D

2007-05-15T09:11:00.000-06:00

So, I don't ordinarily do this, but I am posting the same thing as my good friend JP and others. This is an extremely rare and special occasion that all of my people in St. Franny missed and many of you may want to see again. For those that are not familiar, Momma D is the name we as a music ministry have given to DeLynn Rizzo, our worship pastor and pastor's wife. Calling her Pastor DeLynn was just to formal. Well, as a special treat for Momma D this past Mother's Day, Lance LeBlanc laid down this phat track and put this hot video together. Please enjoy! By the way, I guess Lance spells Momma, Mama. It's the same thing, but I still prefer Momma.

I'm Sorry, I'm Sorry, Please Come Back

2007-05-15T08:00:00.000-06:00

That's right. I took the plunge into blogger boredom. I sincerely apologize to all of my loyal readers. Last week was a bad week for blogging. But there is plenty to talk about this week, so please come back and read. Also, I wanted Jason Ryder to have a chance to catch back up. He's been so far behind since he beat me to 1000. A week off should do the trick, so hopefully he will be back in the mix. I'm sure The Doctor has passed me by now. Either way, I again apologize for not blogging lately and will be back in action this week.

The Face of Responsibility

2007-05-09T09:26:00.001-06:00

This is my little buddy DJ Howard. Here is his face after he realized he forgot to bring my Nintendo Wii back to me. I left it at his house this weekend after we played it literally all day Sunday. He promised to have Gabi (she's the lovely lady pictured here sticking her nose in the air) bring it to me at work Tuesday. Well, she forgot it and he drove to BR that day for school anyway, so . . . he forgot. It was truly disappointing.

Perhaps what makes it a bit worse is the fact that while I had entrusted my good bud with my Wii, he decided to take advantage of my kindness and allow his jealousy of my Wii skills to get the best of him. You see, at Wii bowling I am what they call a pro. That's right my Wii bowling ball has diamonds and stars on it. DJ, has a plain old boring ball. The tricky part is that pro status isn't infinite. Should you have a streak of bad bowling, you can fall from Wii Bowling grace and lose your status. I bowled a few poor rounds and discovered that the hard way. The beauty is that it only lasted one round and I was back at the pro level.

Well, supposedly DJ has decided since my Wii was in his possession, he should take the liberty to allow his dog to bowl as me and lower my score. What a funny joke, right? Wrong. Oh well, I guess some people just don't have respect for others and their things or even their acts of kindness. Another lesson in being taken advantage of by a friend. I'm a bit disappointed, but I forgive you DJ. Thanks for helping me grow in Christ and in forgiveness!

QUESTION.

2007-05-08T14:59:00.001-06:00

Are you ready for Submerge?
You better sign up while you can.
Dwight K. Schrute has started his ad campaign,
so spots will be filling up fast.
YOU BETTER GET YOURS RESERVED!

By the way, Black Bears climb twice as fast as they run.

Hairy Final Round + New Blog Idea

2007-05-05T19:12:00.000-06:00

Ok, so you've all seen this:

You've all most likely seen this:

But you should be aware of this:

See, the long hair can be a very bad thing too.

Now the next pictures are two fold in nature. These are some pictures of me with much shorter hair, but they are significantly less creepy and gross than the one Skittles showed you all. The other fold, if you will, is based on a conversation I had with the Tullos Family Friday.

We were reflecting on some old school times and I mentioned that I would love to have been blogging back then. So Crystal had a great idea to post about "If Only I Was Blogging Then." I decided to make it a regular segment in my blog and this will be the first edition. The following photos are from April of 2000 and April 2001 at GMA in Nashville, TN. I met several of my favorite artists and have several more pictures. These are the ones that were most readily available.

Me and Jennifer Knapp (this one is for Rob)

Me with Watermark

Me with Darlene Zschech

Me and Jars of Clay

Me, Kurt Carr and Kirk Franklin

Me with Deliriou5!

Me with the most Rock and roll cat ever, Dex of All Together Separate

Mudbug Mowdown Reminder

2007-05-04T14:48:00.000-06:00

Today, Gayla Ware asked me to input the Late Nite Mudbug Mowdown into the back foyer Point of Sale system so they can sell tickets via credit card back there. So, I told her if she wanted me to remember she had to make a note and put it on a necklace of sorts and put it around my neck. Well, as you can see she did just that. I wore it proudly and now that info is in the computer and ready to go, keyword Mudbug or Item #514. Now all of you Late Niters can purchase your mowdown tickets on your credit cards. Thanks Gayla for the beautiful necklace!

1 Answer = Many Choices

2007-05-04T10:28:00.000-06:00

OK, so there is only one true tasty cold beverage that truly makes me happy,

One beverage that answers all of my thirst cravings:
That is Coca-Cola CLASSIC!

In the 80's Coke had a brain-fart and tried to change the best drink ever. They called it New Coke. To me that name is like Valdamort to Harry Potter or Sauron to Hobbits. It was the nastiest thing in history. It almost drove me to Pe#$i. Yes, that is a bad word in my book. Luckily, I discovered Cherry Coke and it help me get by until they brought back the CLASSIC. That is why I order very specifically when I order my Coke. Coca-Cola Classic please.

That said, my love for the sweetness that is Coca-Cola Classic has recently become rewarding. Very, very rewarding. I get points to buy stuff with just by drinking. Every 12 pack represents 10 points and every bottle cap 3 points. So far I have 283 points with several 12 packs unopened. This presents me with a problem.

Which reward should I choose? Your opinion could help me out. Remember, I have 283 points. The point totals for the rewards are listed below the photo of the reward. For some I would have to wait a bit longer for. HELP A BROTHER OUT!

429 points for the Coke Paris T-Shirt

357 points for this groovy Coke Hat

265 points for this hip Coke Sling Backpack

90 points for this handy-dandy Caribiner Coke Bottle Holder

Elevate Rocket Balloons

2007-05-02T08:40:00.001-06:00

That's right boys and girls. As I post this, Elevate is en-route to New Orleans then, the old BR. They are just getting back from two weeks in Africa and I got so excited I had to post some videos from my time with them before the journey to the Motherland. I missed you guys! I Believe these Balloons Belong to Brother Brandon! (alliteration is illuminating!)Enjoy!

What a Weekend, continued . . .

2007-05-01T10:01:00.000-06:00

What is a weekend in the life of Griff without a mention of Sunday afternoon at the Howard's? Well, we had yet another action packed day as I brought my Wii over. Wii did a little golfing. A little boxing, And what is a Wii day without a Wii Bowling Tournament. The game was set: DJ, Havi, Adam, Stogie, "Papa Bear" Dennis Howard and I would determine the best Bowler Wii style. Though I won the pre-lim with a score of a lowly 192. When the heat was on I could only muster a third place finish.

Havi was new to the whole Wii thing and finished 5th.
After I trounced him in the pre-lim, DJ edged me out in the tourney and earned 2nd.

The winner was: Papa Bear. He just can't be beaten.

Here is the victory shuffle, YOU DO NOT WANT TO MISS IT!

Is there anything else to be said. The man has got it all: wisdom, talent, competitive edge and he's got the moves! What more could you want? Mrs. Sandy is a lucky lady.

What a Weekend!

2007-04-30T22:33:00.000-06:00

OK, so I told you this was going to be a great weekend. We had a great time at the car wash thanks to Buck Langston for letting us use Bayou Carwash. We had a lot of fun and washed quite a few cars. Here are a few shots of folks getting there car wash on.

Sunday Sunday evening we had an amazing time at PathFuge at the MAG. Hi, we're Chris and Sophie, welcome to the MAG.

OG and the crew served up some slammin' grub.

Worship was great! We are "Ready Now" to start a "Revolution."

Ashlyn sang her guts out on "Pure" and the Ghost-fest was on.

Pastor Timmy dropped a strong word on us about speaking life into valley of dry bones.

The altars were full of kids committing to live the life for God and bring life to their campuses. It truly was an amazing weekend.

But wait, what about the afternoon at the Howards?

Refuge at the MAG

2007-04-27T16:19:00.000-06:00

This is the MAG. Magnolia Cafe'. If you are in the St. Francisville area, you will not want to miss out on Refuge at the MAG this Sunday Night. It is going to be slamming with a capital amming. The band is practiced up and ready to usher in the Ghost fest and Pastor T-Squirrel is preparing what I am certain will be an on-point message to challenge us all to be a little more like The Jesus. Oooooooo, and I hear OG Crowe is cooking for Christ and serving us all some major grubbage. So come check us out Sunday night at 6pm.

Also, if you need that ride cleansed, we will be cleansing them all at Bayou Car Wash tomorrow, Saturday, morning and early afternoon. Around 10am or 11am-1pm or 2pm. After you watch JaMarcus Russell get drafted #1, come watch the St. Fran Refugees wash your ride. It's FREE! Then you can hang around and catch our very own "Most Ineligible Bachelor," Chris Cole play at the MAG Saturday at 7pm.

I'm telling you this is the weekend to be in Frannytown. Don't miss it!

Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck, Duck,

2007-04-25T13:09:00.001-06:00

GOOSE!

Who Needs Schwarma?

2007-04-25T12:51:00.000-06:00

This is why I prefer Serop's Express over Albasha. If I'm not in the mood for chicken schwarma, I don't have to get any. A bit o' mac-n-cheese and corn and Griffis is good to go. Even in the third person.

Television Theory 101

2007-04-25T08:54:00.000-06:00

OK, so this television season is coming to an end very rapidly. LOST, Heroes, 24(this is my last season to watch, it's getting weak!), Grey's Anatomy(I may also cut this one from my line-up, and will certainly not watch the Addison Sheppard spin-off), American Idol, and so on. I am curious as to what your theories may be for the rest of the season on some of these shows. By the way, if sometime this summer they replay Friday Night Lights Season 1, you have to watch it. It's based around football, but it is not about football. Drama and acting superior to Grey's I promise. Real Life Stuff and I give it a resounding 4 thumbs up. 2 are my wife's. (who hates football!)

*LOST - It's heating back up and once again has the majority of my TV interest. I can't really post about it much, because I am into Spoilers. Be careful what you wish for is all I will say. I think we will see this show end next season.

*Heroes - Very fun, and I think I was right about Mama Pettreli. I'm sure this one will definitely surprise us all when it's all said and done. Is Peter the exploder? Does Silar make it next season? Nikki or Jessica? What does Linderman need from Micah? Vegas is his business.

*24 - Uh, Jack dies? hopefully?!

*Grey's - More doctors do surgery and Addison leaves Seattle Grace to work in a fertility clinic in LA. Does McSteamy stay?

*American Idol - Record setting vote night, Lakisha goes home with Phil or Chris hugging her. The other just sat down. They are next to go anyway. Jordin v Blake Finale as Mindy Doo, though the most accomplished vocally, continues to creep people out with her "who me?" gets the boot. Finally, Jordin wins!

And your theories?

Another Sunday in Frannytown

2007-04-25T08:24:00.000-06:00

So, this weekend was capped off with yet another fun-filled day at the Howard's. Service was awesome as we continued in our series "Why?." Chris Cole even led "Mighty to Save" and did a great job.

After church, all the leaders headed to Pastor Timmy's crib to just chill and eat a bit of lunch. Then, we headed to the Howard Inn until Refuge. In Howardland, DJ and I went riding the four-wheelers down the creek. Well, actually, we started our adventure picking blackberries in the meadow, but that just sounds funny so I won't mention that part. Anyway, we rode all the way to the middle school and ran into a couple of guys, Nick and Trey. We all went rolling through the creek back to DJ's house.

On our way back to the Howard's we ran into DJ's arch nemesis:

That has to be largest weed I have ever seen.

How in the world did that car get down there?

This truck is little more obvious!

Oh, and here's the one that got away from Timmy and J-Dawg.

It didn't get too far!

Looking Into the Future

2007-04-24T12:51:00.000-06:00

Hey guys, real quick. If you have me on your blogroll, please do me a favor and change my address from michaelgriffis.blogspot.com to just michaelgriffis.com. It re-routes you here anyway. I just want to start having everything go through the michaelgriffis.com, so when I switch over to it, you will already be there. I am trying to master the wordpress blogging before I make the switch, so keep an eye out. Fresh and clean will the michaelgriffis.com be. So, take a second and edit your blogroll. And again, thank you for your support.

Also, he hasn;t made the announcement yet, but you can and should do the same for Jason "the doctor" Laird. Change his blog on your roll to jasonlaird.com and keep watching for the updated sites.

A Hair Raising Follow-Up

2007-04-23T22:59:00.000-06:00

Proceed with caution. I have decided to start taking myself a bit less seriously. Heck, no one else does. That said, I am about to warn you to avoid a blog at all cost, knowing that my warning will only MORE certainly send you there.

As a sort of plea in response to my previous post, my boy Jamie a-k-a "Skittles" has posted a picture from about 5 years ago of me with a horrid hair cut and a weak disconnected goatee. I implore you to avoid his blog, but if you must, then you must. It is really bad. I guess he really wants me to keep the hair. By the way, the jury is still out. Your opinions are far too varied. This picture could change that. Thanks Jamie! Late!

Hair Today Gone Tomorrow

2007-04-19T13:46:00.000-06:00

That's right, it finally happened, Sanjaya was booted from American Idol last night! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hooray! Hip Hip Hazaa! So anyway, with all the hair talk that surrounded that doober, I thought I would pose a question to my loyal reader: Should I cut my hair? Or maybe even shave it, as some have suggested?

Either way, yours could be the opinion that sways me one way or another. So help a brother out. To aid you in this decision, I am supplying you with a picture with my hair pull back in a hat. This should give the impression of what I could look like. You be the judge.

The ghost-like monkey face on the side belongs to
Brandon "4.5" Meyer.

US vs. UK

2007-04-19T00:29:00.000-06:00

The Contender is back and it's US vs. UK. Last week the US boxer, Walter Wright got beaten in a split decision by some awkward UK cat named Small. That guy was the most unorthodox boxer I've seen, but he got the job done and earned the UK 1 point. There are 6 fights scheduled, each win gets the nation of the victor 1 point, all draws earn each nation 1/2 of a point. An overall tie is settled by the number of knockouts. At stake, the Sugar Ray Leonard Cup.

Well, last night was week two and the US had to have a win. Freddy Curiel took on some chap named Minter. He was stronger, bigger and his dad was a former Welterweight Champ of the World. So, Curiel had his work cut out for him and got pummeled for 6 rounds. Round 7 he got a slight edge and then came Round 8, two rounds longer than Minter had ever gone. 2 minutes are gone and then one of the chaps gets knocked the heck out. See for yourself who it was:

So, now the US is even with the tie breaker in their favor. Good Job Freddy!

If you like boxing, you have to watch the Contender on ESPN on Wednesday Nights. You are missing some awesome stuff.

Former Elevator of the Universe

2007-04-18T20:30:00.001-06:00

Gabi is sad. Maybe she spent too much time listening to the "Blue" man group. Go check her blog to find out!

Oh Snap!

2007-04-18T15:54:00.000-06:00

I would like to thank the afore(over)mentioned blogger JP, as well as David Song, and Dupe for helping me come to my senses about those Snap Preview Bubbles that were on here. Apparently, they annoyed you all as much as they did me. Thanks so much to everyone else who hated it and talked about it, but was scared to tell me and risk hurting my blog feelings. Like Josh-Bob! So, goodbye Snap and hello pop-up free blog reading! Carry on.

If JP Can Do It

2007-04-18T13:09:00.000-06:00

If JP can do it, so can I. Most of JP's recent blogs have simply been a link to someone else's blog. So, if he can do that I can too. This one is a shout out to a new blogger, my sister Melodye. Click on her name and check out her blog. She used to be on staff here at HPC on the finance team. Anyway, she and Steve and the kids all live outside of Birmingham. She has been reading HPC staff blogs for a while now and has decided to venture out into the deep with the rest of us. She even gives JP a little blog link on her blog. Congrats JP, you are officially the blog prince of blogorhea.

Why? (Virginia Tech)

2007-04-17T21:26:00.000-06:00

This past weekend, we as a church embarked on a journey into the most dominant question throughout time: Why? That word sums up so many questions in so many stages of life. From the child that is inquiring about everything from the color of the sky, grass and grandmother's hair or simply not being allowed to do that thing that seems to be so much fun all the way to the great tragedies that have struck our lives both personally and globally, that one word dominates so much of our lives. How poignant, necessary and timely is this series?

Yesterday, a 23 year old student took the lives of 32 fellow students and then very cowardously took his own. This young man, no doubt troubled and hurting rather than reaching out, lashed out at those around him. Why? So many students were out having fun, studying or relaxing with friends the night before and today they are no longer with us. Why? Why would someone kill so many people, so randomly? Why didn't the school shut down the campus after the first incident? Why didn't someone take more seriously the disturbia that apparently surrounded this young man? Why do bads things happen to good people? Why? Why? Why?

I do not begin to presume I have any real mind blowing answer. I only know that Bible says it rains on the just and unjust alike. I also know that God gives us the promise, not that bad things would never happen, rather that He would never leave us nor forsake us. We can take heart knowing that though the world is crooked and dysfunctional, He has overcome the world and He is always there for us. He also promises to take even these excruciatingly difficult times and somehow work them and everything else together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.

No one can really ever know why these horrid things happen, we can only know that God is still there to hold us. Man's free will has allowed for such horrible incidents, but our surrendered hearts to God can make even the worst moments a bit easier to get through. His peace is beyond all understanding. I only pray that in this time of mourning, those at Virginia Tech can find hope and solace in Him, as He is truly the only one that can meet them in their hour of such great despair.

All this to say, if you are stuck in a cycle that has you constantly asking why or the recent tragedy has just sparked the question into flame, I hope you would tune in to the series God has dropped in our Pastor's heart. If you need some answers or simply want to find hope in the midst of your question consumed life, this series is designed to help you find the true answer and the only hope for all of us. May God reconcile your heart to His and bring peace in your storm. May His will be done and His love be all consuming and comforting in your situation and in the lives of all of those grieving at Virginia Tech, their families and friends.

College Algebra circa 1995

2007-04-14T23:42:00.001-06:00

Now, this is random, but then again it's my blog and it's always random. Yesterday, my wife and I, with the help of my mother-in-law and sister-in-law, began a little clutter deliverance. We began going through and trashing the contents of box after box of unnecessary junk that my wife and I seem to hold onto forever. As, I dug through one of my boxes, I found my old college papers, notes and such from my days at Lee University.

I am amazed and very glad that I still have this. This incredible artwork you see is the result of the amazing creative skills of yours truly and Allon Sparks combined with a very boring lesson in College Algebra. Allon and I literally spent the entire class passing this piece of paper back and forth with each of us adding one element to the page at a time. I know it is difficult to believe, but we did not collaborate as we drew. We simply added to it and passed it on. This masterpiece was the result. I know you are impressed. I am too!

Since you enjoyed it so much, here are some close-ups:

Croquet Anyone?

2007-04-12T08:52:00.000-06:00

As promised, here are the pics from the Easter Croquet Tournament between Mr. Dennis Howard, Mr. Steven Stogner, Mr. Daryl James Howard and yours truly. I am trying something a bit different here to shorten the post, but maintain all of the photos. So, here goes nothing via Picasa. It was a magnificent tourney and the photos that follow should prove it. Cheerio!

Click the photo album below, it's better if you view the slide show when you get there:

2007 Easter Croquet Tournament

As you can see everyone had a wonderful time. Well, everyone except the croquet balls. These shots were taken from their perspective:

Can You Say Creepy?

2007-04-11T13:36:00.001-06:00

Sitting in my office, minding my own business and I hear someone mention my name from the other room. Always suspicious when my name is mentioned in a faint whisper, I get up and head toward the door and discover this creepy, 6'6" expressionless duck walking slowly and determinedly toward me. It spoke no words, just kept walking toward me. Needless to say, I was a bit creeped out and tried to get away as everyone laughed and pointed. It was like one of those scenes in a movie where someone is running from a murderer at a carnival and no one else is aware of the danger, so they are laughing, cotton candy in hand, as the carousel keeps spinning and blaring the now eerie music and the man on stilts looms dauntingly over head. Seriously, I was a little frightened, but I'm better now.

Anyway, this apparently is our new Submerge Camp Mascot. Ducky McDuckerson.

Delirious 911

2007-04-11T00:30:00.001-06:00

You want me to work security? You got it! Anything worth doing is worth doing over the top! That's my motto. I was scheduled to work entrance security for the Delirious concert last night, so entrance security I was. At first the idea of working entrance security seemed a bit LAME-O, but in the words of Ben Franklin, when life asks you to be a security guard, make lemonade.

Below is what happens when you question a security guard:

Just don't let it happen again Tyrone.

And a Happy Easter Was Had by All

2007-04-09T21:57:00.000-06:00

In case you were interested, this Easter was one of the best in my 29 years. First of all, it wasn't on my wedding anniversary like last year. Secondly, it was just awesome from top to bottom. We had an incredible service in St. Franny. The music was alright, but the worship leader looked like an Easter Egg in a suit. The best part was that Pastor Timmy delivered a great Resurrection message and several people came to the altar to encounter and begin a relationship with Jesus.

That afternoon, we had a great lunch, featuring spiral cut ham, at the Howard's. Like Campbell's it was Mmmmm, Mmmmm Good! Mrs. Sandy even made some corn for me. Now, lunch was great, but the real fun was the 3 rounds of croquet action that followed. I can't really explain how awesome it was. I'll just have to show you as soon as I get the pictures. Check back tomorrow.

Finally, my wife and I spent the evening at her uncle Charlie's plantation, Como. Como is the only remaining plantation on the banks of the Mississippi River. There was food and music in the barn right on the Mississippi and we attended a sunset service in an old slave church. Jim Hogg and the boys provided the music and long time missionary Jack Dyer brought a simple yet powerful message. We capped off the evening with a walk around the old plantation which is still under renovation and "spun some yarn," as Charlie calls it, with Charlie and Kathy.

Here are some more pictures of the plantation and such:

This place was built in late 1800's after the original plantation burned down

the wooden building behind the house is now the kitchen, but used to be the post office

this is the outside of the old slave church

A great missionary Jack Dyer speaking

You guessed it: Jim Hogg and the boys

The Old Barn and Gazebo on the Mighty Mississippi

The Tuuuuug Boat, soon we'll be making another run.

Jill and I missed the old paddle wheeler, so this was all I could show you.

Michael the Eyewitness in St. Franny

2007-04-06T14:39:00.000-06:00

Last night, the wife and I rolled over to St. Frannyville to watch brother Mike McCain present his drama in Parker Park. He was awesome and the drama was anointed as usual. Thanks Brother Mike, you are the man.

First Class All the Way

2007-04-06T14:31:00.001-06:00

Yesterday the church staff spent the morning tightening up for Easter. I had the privilege of working with Craig Boutte and Doug Musso. We had the task of helping everyone breathe a little easier (cleaning the AC vents) and cleaning the HPC limo cart. Here are a few pics of us with that cart. We had a blast and it was all to maintain that Five Star atmosphere of excellence we strive to provide everyone that attends HPC. It really was awesome to see everyone working so hard. At HPC, we believe in doing everything for the one. If one person has a little bit better of an experience and one less distraction and because of that they are able to come to a saving relationship with God, then it is well worth every drop of sweat. So Happy Easter to everyone and I hope God draws each of us a little bit closer to Him this weekend.

To The Victor Go The Spoils

2007-04-03T12:28:00.000-06:00

Today JP sealed his victory in HPC's Biggest Loser. He lost a total of 37.2 lbs. equalling a 14.1 percent loss. So in celebration we went to DeAngelo's and JP was finally able to get some dessert. Good Job Japers! You are the man. For all the details, check out: The Champ

This Is How We Roll

2007-03-30T13:47:00.000-06:00

This afternoon, J-Dawg, Jeffro and I rolled out to get a bite for lunch. When we roll, we roll right. We took that RV! The church has an RV and you have to drive it from time to time to keep it working within normal parameters, so we went to Chili's in style and I stretched out the legs on the way back! As if the ride wasn't enough, we went to Chili's to meet everyone's favorite former service director, ChrisTOPHER Craft. He is the man! I love you Bossman!

Inside Jokes on the Outside

2007-03-29T23:13:00.000-06:00

I need to be clear. Chris Cole really is a great guy. In the land of St. Fran, we love to make the funny jokes. And little Chris is often the recipient of the worst end of them. The best part is how incredibly well he receives it. Chris laughs every joke off like he made it himself. The worst part for him is. . . well, how well he takes it. He makes it way too much fun to mess with him.

I just wanted to be clear with everyone that the previous post was truly in good fun. Chris, you are a great sport and I love picking on you bud. Little Chris, he's just a big doober, yes doober with a "d", with an incredible musical gift and a great disposition. I contemplated deleting the previous post for fear of people not understanding that it was all in fun, but it is way too funny if I do say so myself and I simply couldn't. Chris wouldn't want me to anyway. But seriously, girls be careful. I hear he has a crush on Pastor Timmy's 2 year old daughter, Brooke. Another inside joke, now on the outside.

HPC's Most Ineligible Bachelor

2007-03-29T10:05:00.000-06:00

That's right ladies. Jason Ryder revealed HPC's most eligible in an attempt to make you all aware of what incredible guy you should be looking into. Well, I am here to help you as well, only I am here to show you what you do not want. Allow me to introduce HPC's Most Ineligible Bachelor:

Chris Cole. Yes, he is as creepy as this photo indicates. This guy is not exactly what one would call a winner, but he is available. He plays acoustic guitar for us in St. Francisville. He even plays at the MAG and other venues in town from time to time. As a matter of fact, he will be there at the MAG this Saturday night. Avoid it all cost.

Even when he is sleeping, he's a bit creepy. I'd call his a face only a mother could love, but I bet she has a hard time!

He does need a friend and someone to cling to like a leach, so if you are desperate or just looking for a missions project, Chris may be the man you are looking for.

Even Falling, Stand the Mighty

2007-03-28T23:38:00.000-06:00

I read this phrase last night and found it to be very intriguing. Even falling, stand the mighty. A little poetic maybe, but it definitely caught my my attention. Here are a few thoughts I had as to what it might mean: So often we find ourselves masking insecurities with strength, appearing mighty yet our hearts are in constant free-fall. I don't know. Maybe it's just like when I began pursuing my wife. She stood firmly in opposition, all the while falling in love with all things Griffis. Sucker!

One of my first thoughts and perhaps my favorite was of 300. Though facing imminent death, the Spartans stood fearlessly strong. As in all of the great "death of a hero" scenes, they die/fall standing strong either in battle itself ala Boromir from LOTR, the actual last Samurai and Maximus in Gladiator, or in principle standing for your cause in the face of death like William Wallace. FREEDOM! As they fall, their stand actually gains strength. I really like that thought.

In my opinion, true strength is found not necessarily in the not falling, rather in the getting back up. As Paul encouraged us, when there is nothing left to do, just stand. Should you fall, rely on God's strength and just get back up.

Welcome Motherland!

2007-03-28T19:23:00.000-06:00

That's right. It's official. I am completely transcontinental! I earned my final continent dot. God bless you Africa! Thank you for your interest. I only pray that I can maintain your interest and readeration. Is that a word? Either way, I press on and pray for my missionary friends to spread the Father's love to all of you in the Motherland.

Everything That Glitters Isn't Gold

2007-03-28T19:11:00.001-06:00

Sometimes it's just glitter or a glitter coated set of drums. I just remembered that I had forgotten to show all of you our new drums in St. Fran. I'd like to give a special shout out to my boy, brother Easy Money Earl, for making a way where there seemed to be no way. Well, the baby Jesus gets all the glory, but Easy had a part in it. Also, a special shout out to the Beytmobile and Trace for lugging around there drums every week until we got our own. And of course, none of this would be possible without the faithful giving of the awesome Frannyville HPCers. It is an incredible blessing to no longer have to sweat having a set of drums. Did I mention that we got some new drums in St. Francisville? OK, cool. Oh yeah and they sparkle.

Who Says Yard Work Is Hard Work?

2007-03-27T09:31:00.000-06:00

I do! Yesterday was the first well spent day off for me in a while. And when I say spent, I mean it. I was useless by the time I got home and I am a bit sore today.

Yesterday, I helped my good little buddy DJ Howard do a little landscaping for his awesome new company Southern Green Lawns, LLC. (If you need your lawn taken care of, let me know and I will get you in touch with DJ. Top tier work for a reasonable price, guaranteed!) I only pray that the yard we started yesterday is not a typical one for him. That's right this was a two-day job. Poor DJ has to finish it up alone today.

We were in a very nice neighborhood, but the lawn was something out of the twilight zone. The front was pretty bad, but the back was frightening. The homeowner warned us, but I was not prepared for the weeds four and five feet high overtaking the rose bushes, the day lilies and everything else in sight. There was a great bonus in the sense of satisfaction as we made dramatic progress, but WOW! It was awesome to get to see DJ at work and get a bit of understanding of how tough it is to be out there day in and day out making everyone else's lawn look amazing. The saddest part is that once you are done, you don't actually get to enjoy the fruits of your labor. DJ should invest in a portable hammock and spend at least 30 minutes enjoying the yards. Anyway, I'm pretty sure my weeding skills blew DJ away. We had a lot of fun and DJ even let me drive the mower, but I must say it's nice to be back in the office.

Oh yeah, as an added bonus DJ trimmed my front hedges. What a guy! As a thank you, I decided to break his favorite rake.

I Am A Proud New Domain Owner

2007-03-21T13:43:00.000-06:00

That's right, not that it does anything special now, but I am the proud new owner of both:
Griffis Is My Homeboy and
Michael Griffis domains. Right now they just link you back here, but in the future . . . who knows? Hopefully, I will have my shirts available online at the homeboy page.
What shirts, you ask? Why these of course:

It Was A Valiant Effort

2007-03-20T07:52:00.000-06:00

Valiant effort indeed, but alas we didn't have enough to compete with Jason Ryder. Today is a sad day for blogging competition, but a glorious day in that we are in our final moments of triple digits. Jason may have beaten us to 1000, but we will march on in the fight to alleviate boredom and insomnia. For, I will continue this journey called, "Much aBlog About Nothing" and do just that: blog about nothing and everything at the same time. (Not the Nothing from "The Neverending Story" that would just be weird) I humbly thank you for watching during this journey to 1000 and I implore you to stand by my side (or just sit at your computer) and continue to read and when there's nothing left to do, read. Amen.

Little Things Mean a Lot

2007-03-19T22:44:00.000-06:00

This years Amplified outreach took all of our students to inner city elementary schools. I had the privilege of joining a group at Belfair Elementary. We painted poles and doors and laid mulch around the trees, shrubs, and freshly weeded flower beds. We had an amazing time and as you can see we left the courtyard looking great. These tasks seem fairly simple and may not mean much to many of us, but I was amazed at how much it meant to the students.

That morning several students were coming in for a Saturday LEAP test training session, and while we received instructions from the school's janitor a few girls began painting the poles. As they were paintingn, one little guy from Belfair arrived and was so excited, he ran to the gym door and yelled to some of his friends, "They're painting our poles!" Honestly, I was taken aback by how much it meant to him. These little touch-ups really meant a lot to those kids. Somebody actually cared enough to come and simply paint their poles. How cool is that to think that such a little thing can mean so much and make such an impact on those kids lives. I hope we do some follow up work with those schools. I spoke to Joe, he's over maintenance for the schools in that area, and he told me that the principal wants to schedule another outreach there, but this time she wants to schedule some of her students to be there to help out and gain a little more pride in their school. What an incredible opportunity that will be. Sign me up!

Next Friday's Elevate Lunch Menu

2007-03-16T14:49:00.000-06:00

Here you go guys. My leftovers are yours.

Vultures!

2007-03-16T13:04:00.001-06:00

At 11am on a Friday an INTERNal alarm goes off in our Elevate interns: Time to clean out the office fridge. I walked by the break room about 11:20 and it was too late. I reached around the hungry interns and "the determined to clean the fridge" Robin to see if my buffalo chicken fingers were still there . . . beep, beep, beep. The microwave began to mock me as the familiar aroma of wing sauce filled the air. I was too late. Brooke, seen above, had already laid claim to my unmarked to go box. Brooke and Barton do not miss a beat when it comes to a potential free meal. They each walked away with 4 meals to get them through the weekend. Good job guys. Check back for the follow up blog with next weeks surprise menu.

Get Amp'd

2007-03-14T19:12:00.001-06:00

Tonight we got a little pre-amp. A taste of what's to come this weekend at Amplified '07. Pastor Chad Daniel and CFNI band Obed Edom served up an incredible appetizer of the amazing things that God has in store for us. I cannot wait to see how God changes all of our students, leaders and especially my heart. If you haven't yet made plans to be there, I dare you to change your plans and let God invade your heart and rock your face in such a powerful way that not even your closest friends will recognize you. Get Amp'd!

The Race to 1000

2007-03-14T11:57:00.001-06:00

The heat is on and I need your help. My good buddy J-Dawg and I are neck and neck in pursuit of 1000 blog hits. He's got the lead with 850 to my 832 right now. So help me help you. I will keep the blog fresh and flowing with frequent updates, you just come back to read. I will keep it interesting and update you on our status daily. Let's make it to 1000 together! Go go gadget blog viewers.

Explosions In The Sky

2007-03-10T23:38:00.000-06:00

For those that don't watch, Friday Night Lights is one of the best true dramas on TV. That being said, they also have incredible theme music. That music was provided by an amazing quartet called Explosions In The Sky. The band consists of a drummer, two electric guitars and a bass or third electric guitar depending on the song. Purely instrumental, very rock and roll and completely amazing. These guys are so ridiculously talented and were in the Big Easy last Thursday Night. That's right, yours truly was there and it was amazing. These cats are seriously talented and passionate about the music they create. If you are in the least bit interested, check them out by clicking one of the album covers. Enjoy!

Heroes, down for the 6 count!

2007-03-05T22:59:00.000-06:00

Heroes is on that dreaded 6 week break! 6 weeks, but I am betting it will be well worth the wait! Seriously, LOST better take advantage of the down time. After last weeks joke of an episode about Hurley's need for an alternator, they have a long LONG way to go to get my attention and loyalty back during Heroes break. Lucky for them, we won't have Heroes to compare them to.

Heroes has been amazing! Last week may have been the best episode of television in the past few years. This week they send us off for a 6 week stint with another great episode. I'll spare the details of a recap for those that do not yet watch. You should all begin to watch right away; downloads are available on i-Tunes. For those that watch, I want to know what you think is coming in April. Here are a few thoughts I have: Peter obviously has more powers than Sylar, including now all of Sylar's. So, Petey is going to overtake Mr. Sylar and heal his own head wound. Thanks Claire! Peter is bad to the bone and by far the most powerful and intriguing hero. I believe we may lose Suresh though. Now that he has figured out the genetic code, he may not be necessary anyway. Hiro has the sword, with that all kinds of cool stuff is now available. We will apparently see his future slicked hair self soon. Back to the future anyone? Claire is going to start getting a lot more answers I believe. Hopefully one of mine will be answered too. Namely, I wonder what power Peter and Nathan's mom has and how long she has known where Claire was? This shows just keeps building. 6 weeks away then 6 hours left. What is going to happen next?

Let's just pray that LOST will take some tips and give us some TV worth watching in the meantime. Aaaaaand We're Clear!

PS. If you like the picture above, go check out:
Heroic Wallpapers

Lumberjack Griffis

2007-02-27T18:03:00.000-06:00

Ya'll didn't know that I was a true woodsmen. Chris Cole, DJ Howard and I cut down a couple of trees this weekend at the Howard's house. It was a tough job, but we real men knew we could handle it. After the first one went down with Chris surfing it, the second didn't have a chance. Big daddy Griffis was wielding the ax for it's final farewell. If that wasn't enough, the manliest of all tree cutting celebrations immediately followed. I even got Tyrone to replay the man celebration in slow mo at the end for you in case you miss it the first time. Thanks Gabi for the video work and commentary as well as Mr. Dennis and Mrs. Sandy, Holly Kay for the special effects and Ty for the editing! Enjoy:

Seafood and Magnetic Earrings

2007-02-26T18:59:00.000-06:00

So, today I headed over to Randy Montalbano's Seafood and Catering for lunch with my good buddies "Mad Fine" Brad Pine and Matt "Having a great agent MATTers" Stewart. Of course, the huge bonus is that Reynolds Leblanc, quite possibly the grooviest cat around, works there. That dude made all of our food with his left-hand and it was still better than anything else in town. Seriously, it is impossible to leave Randy Montalbano's without a smile on your face. The food is amazing! It's by far the best boiled crawfish in town. I insist that you check this place out!

After lunch came the real fun. Matt, Brad and I decided that since it was so awesome outside that we should go do something outside. After a thoughtful 3 seconds, the decision was made. Let's go play putt putt! That's right we headed out to Celebration Station. I swear the last time I went there I had a magnetic earring. OK, so I may have been there since then, but I definitely remember going in there back in '91 in the 8th grade with magnetic bling in the ear. How many of you remember the magnetic earring? What a great invention! My parents wouldn't let me have an earring and I honestly didn't want a real one, so I got the next best thing. Nothing said cool in the early 90's like that little piece of gold in the left ear. What an era? I feel so old. 16 years removed from the 8th grade? WOW! Anyway, after two rounds of putt putt, Brad Pine emerged victorious. I came in 3rd and a good time was had by all.

Let the voting begin!

2007-02-24T20:18:00.000-06:00

As you may know, I am a huge fan of television. Perhaps I watch a bit too much. Either way, I want to know what you 3 that read this watch. Which television shows do you prefer these days? I have submitted a few top choices for your voting pleasure by genre. Please feel free to write in your own choice if mine are not satisfactory.

Drama: Heroes, LOST, or Grey's Anatomy? (by the way you should be watching Friday Night Lights)
Sitcom: The Office, My Name is Earl, or re-runs of old favorites.
Reality: American Idol, Amazing Race, Survivor, or you hate reality TV.

Yes, you've guessed it, this is a sad attempt at receiving comments. Throw me a bone here. I've entertained you with my videos, now entertain me with your thoughts.

Round 1: where the stupidity began

2007-02-21T11:06:00.000-06:00

Round 1 as promised. Me vs. Tyrone:
Me hitting Ty:

Tyrone's redemption:

Now that is some funny stuff! Thanks to Rob Gros for the footage and Jumbo JP for the high pitched hilarity!

There it is . . . . .

2007-02-20T16:59:00.000-06:00

Last Friday after work, somebody brought in this huge paper roll. Now what could we possibly do with that? Of course, let's hit each other as hard as we can. What else could we do? It had to be done. Thanks Bossman for participating and Dupe for the incredible video footage.

This was actually round 2 for me. There will be a video of Round 1: Tyrone "The Afrikan" and me swapping coming soon.

new blogger in the mix

2007-02-20T11:35:00.000-06:00

What's up everybody? OK, hey you, the one that reads this besides me, everyone needs to go check out my boy Jason Ryder's blog. He's in my "All My People" section: J-Dawg. If you are a worshiper, a redneck, or just looking for some insight into the mind of the financier, J-Dawg's Blog is the place for you. But, don't stop coming here because he's cooler. Remember where you got this info? I thought we were friends. Hey, come back. Forget Jason, stay here. Hey where are you going. Boooooo! I'll be here for you when you get bored. Later!

He gives and takes away

2007-02-13T15:48:00.000-06:00

My heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be Your name. (lyrics from the bridge of Tim Hughes, "Blessed Be Your Name.")

For those of you that don't know, I have the amazing privilege of leading worship for the Healing Place Church campus in St. Francisville, LA (St. Franny as I like to call it). Anyway, this weekend I had the opportunity to experience the truth of those lyrics right smack in the middle of worship. We started off great and were introducing an older song that was new to the congregation, "You Are Good" by Israel Houghton. All was well and we smoothly transitioned into "Blessed Be Your Name" via "Stogie," Steven Stogner on electric.

As we began the song, I had the urge to clear my throat and as I did, something happened. I'm not quite certain what it was, but what I am certain of is the result. Suddenly, I could barely get the words out. We made it to the instrumental bridge and it wasn't too obvious to anyone but Tabitha, she leads worship with me, and me that something was wrong. Then came the lyrics "You give and take away, you give and take away . . ." and He just completely took away. I had nothing. It was all I could do to finish the bridge, screech out the chorus twice more and end the song. I turned to the band and cut the 3rd song that was planned and we went straight to the last song "Revelation Song" which Tab was leading. Everything went fairly smooth and life went on. I had my voice back by that evening in time to lead worship for our Refuge service . So, He gave back too!

At the time I felt my voice fading out, my first reaction was pretty much fear and embarrassment. As a singer, you are always a little freaked out when your voice goes out. Though it always does, the idea that it may never come back is completely real at least for a moment. That is one of the worst scenarios I can imagine in my selfish, small world. The irony though, was in the timing of the complete vocal loss. "You give and take away." At that moment, my first thought was to tap out and cut the song short and move on. But as I screeched out the lyric as best I could, the reality of what I was singing became even more important. Singing and singing fairly well is one of the most valued things in my life. At that moment, God dropped the reminder in my heart that he was the giver of the gift and that that was exactly all my ability to sing was, a gift from Him. If He chose to, He could take away my voice in an instant. Following that was the question, "Would you worship me still?" It didn't take me long to answer, the next lyric was all I needed to say, "My heart will choose to say, Lord blessed be your name." As we repeated the bridge a few times, it became stronger in my heart and so I sang out with all I had. Though the vocals were shot, the heart was still able to express everything that was necessary: Blessed be the name of the Lord! I challenge you with this as God challenged me this weekend: If everything you have was taken away from you, where does your heart stand with God? Would you blame Him or bless Him? Ask yourself, in your heart, is God worth it even if you feel, sound or even look foolish to all around you? If you struggle with that thought, take a gander into the life of old Job.

"²⁰ After Job heard all of those reports, he got up and tore his robe. He shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground and worshiped the Lord. ²¹ He said,
'I was born naked.
And I'll leave here naked.
You have given, and you have taken away.
May your name be praised.'

²² In spite of everything, Job didn't sin by blaming God for doing anything wrong."

A "Penny" for Your Thoughts

2007-02-08T09:10:00.000-06:00

First, what do you few you happy few that read this this little blog think about the new song of the month feature? It may be more of a weekly or bi-weekly thing, but I need your feedback to know what to do and what you think of the song choice.

Secondly, Penny will be back on LOST next week. It may only be in a flashback of Desmond's but at least it will bring the Widmore family back. Also, we can look forward to the return of Cindy the flight attendant/girlfriend of the author of the "Bad Twin" (the book that Sawyer was reading the manuscript to) as well as the kidnapped kids from the tail section.

As you might have figured out, LOST came back and it did come back strong. I will give more thoughts on the recent episode in a day or so, once I know everyone has had a chance to see it. I'm glad that the weak episodes 3.3-3.6 were not an indication of the show getting watered down like I feared. There was some very interesting insight into what takes place on the island as well as a bit of "Other" history last night. Good times were had by all!

That's all for now, don't forget to let me know if you like the song of the month and whether it should be monthly, weekly or bi-weekly. Peace on you all!

The new phone books are here, the new phone books are here!

2007-02-06T22:45:00.000-06:00

That's right sir, yes you the one that read this blog once. It's a new year and the new phone books got here a few days ago. OK, a couple of weeks ago, but I really love "The Jerk." "I mean this is the kind of thing makes you somebody. You're name in print!" I digress, with the new-ish year and my new commitment to blogging, comes this little tangent. Let's see if it leads to anything:

-XLI, XLI, XLI, XLI il u? Illuminati coming through. (special thanks to SoulJunk and TobyMac) That's right the Super Bowl has come and gone and as predicted Joseph Addai became the first LSU Tiger to win both a NCAA National Championship and a NFL Super Bowl. Not to mention that he led all NFL Rookies in rushing this year. So, Joe, since I am certain you are of the 90 to at least look at my blog, I salute you! Oh yeah, congrats to that Manning guy too, I guess.

-LOST is back tomorrow night. Sadly, that statement is only followed by a period, as opposed to the exclamation point that would normally be in order. I just hope it earns an exclamation point after the new episode. It just doesn't make sense why they think we still care about finding out about Jack's tattoo's and Locke's reason for being in a wheelchair. Locke was in a wheelchair? Exactly, I wanted to know that last season. Now, just show me the guys in the Arctic and tell me all about our friends the "good guys." Thay really have a lot to prove these next few weeks.

-Finally, who wants to read anymore of my thoughts? Does anyone care or is this just for my benefit. Feel free to comment if you want more of this apparently narrow attempt at blogging!

"Aaaaaaaand, we're clear! Party on Wayne and Party on Garth!"

My Good Buddy Doug Musso!

2007-01-26T13:33:00.000-06:00

This dude is the flow master when it comes to worship. But when he is in the Halo zone, the game face comes out and it is not for the faint of heart. Take a gander for yourself: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MCFa91t-bE

2007-01-24T10:59:00.000-06:00

There is nothing really new happening today, so I just wanted to bring to forefront that my wife is really hot. I didn't superimpose myself into a picture with this girl. She volunteered to spend her life with me. Poor, poor soul.

Against all odds

2007-01-23T10:11:00.000-06:00

The Saints played in the NFC Championship! Who would have ever imagined? Of course they had to go into Chi-town and choke against a Rex Grossman led team, but still the NFC Championship! Either way, this has been the most exciting football season I can remember. Who knew that the Saints would ever hire a Pro-Bowl QB and have an exciting running back, let alone two. Add to that the WR showcase featuring Marques Colston. If only Roman Harper had not been injured and Fred Thomas had never been allowed to play football, we would more likely be looking at the Saints V. Colts in SuperBowl XLI. For once in a lifetime we can actually say, I can't wait to watch the Saints again next year. As for SuperBowl XLI, I will be pulling for the Indianapolis Colts. That's right ladies and gentleman, I, a natural born Manning hater, will be pulling for The Manning. I will mostly be pulling for LSU Tiger Joe Addai, but inadvertently that makes me hope for a Manning to win the first championship in family history. Those guys have never even won a peewee championship! I just hope Manning doesn't do the traditional choke artist routine and keep Joe from his ring. Good luck Joe!

It's January and TV is back!

2007-01-18T10:47:00.000-06:00

American Idol is back, Jack Bauer is back, Heroes comes back Monday, but I am uncertain that LOST will ever be back. I mean really back. Season 3 started out with a bang and faded into the break with a blah! I am an uber-fan of LOST, but I must admit I am a bit scared that the show will not end up being all that we dreamed it could've been. They lose the time slot at 9e to 10e? I must not be the only one with doubts. Let's all hope that I am wrong and that Jack, Kate, Sawyer, Sayid and the crew can get the ball rolling quickly come February and all will once again be right with the world.

First Blog

2006-10-12T14:30:00.000-06:00

This is my first blog and it is very short. This is pretty much a test run to see what the whole thing looks like. So, all of me who read this, do not be disappointed. There will be more blogging. Oh yes, there will be more blogging!

Griffis