Road Trip Continued...

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame & Museum was my favorite part of our weekend road trip. We visited it for the first time in 1997 and enjoyed it then. We’ve decided we’d like to go back every 5 years or so. Anyone who loves music should go although I wouldn’t bring children as there are some mature themes. I will avoid going on a Saturday in the future as it was quite crowded.

Let me get my one complaint out of the way and it’s a big one. You aren’t allowed to take pictures inside the museum. They say this is because

“Many of the artists who have generously loaned or donated artifacts to the Museum have stipulated that these items are not to be photographed or reproduced in any way.”

The more I think about this, the more I think it is bull. If Madonna is willing to put her cone shaped lingerie on display for all to see, does she really care if I have a picture of it? Isn’t it already well documented in photographs? If Pete Townsend cared so little for his guitar that he smashed it, does he really care if I snap a photo of the remaining pieces? I KNOW Jimi Hendrix doesn’t care if I take a photo of the Purple Haze lyrics he scratched out on a piece of scrap paper. If you don’t want your artifacts to be photographed, DON'T PUT THEM ON PUBLIC DISPLAY!!! Then again, I don’t exactly NEED a picture of a rare Beatles board game from the 1960’s. But I WANT a picture of the ZZ Top car. Whatever. There's probably photos of these things all over the web but their not my personal photographs, documenting my personal experience for my scrapbook. Grr!

The museum does a great job of telling the history of rock & roll and celebrating the present as well. I enjoyed seeing the artifacts but my favorite part was the films and interactive media. There was a great display about the history of MTV and the snippets of music videos brought back so many memories. The can’t miss attraction was a film that went through all of the inductees from 1986 to 2007. The film featured photographs & film clips along with a snippet of a song for each artist. I was overwhelmed by how much good music is out there. There’s some that I’ve never heard but I know I could love. There’s some that I know I love but do not own. I wanted to run out and buy some serious music. I entertained the thought of purchasing at least one song from each artist on iTunes. Of course I already have music from some of the artists like Led Zeppelin, The Doors, Stevie Wonder, Hank Williams, Roy Orbison, Queen and The Who but I’m sadly lacking some major artists such as the Beatles, U2, R.E.M., Aretha Franklin, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Elvis etc. Some of these must be worked into the budget. I will also need a bigger iPod.

There were special displays on The Warped Tour, The Clash & The Doors. The Doors are a favorite of Jason and I so that exhibit played a role in bringing us there. I left feeling so sad that Jim Morrison died so young. It would’ve been so interesting to see him mature and grow, both as a musician and a man.

The gift shop was really nice. Jason splurged on a t-shirt that lists every inductee on the back. They actually had some pricey rare collector items for sale such as a few strands of Paul McCartney’s hair and an original Yellow Submarine toy. We cannot recommend the cafeteria. It was overpriced and the food was poor quality.

The positives far outweighed the negatives and it’s a quality, unique place to visit. I'll definitely go again.

Hanging out, taking pictures OUTSIDE the museum. A variety of arsty guitars were on every corner in downtown Cleveland.

My Personal Football Story

I grew up watching my parents watch the Bengals. I watched a little, but didn’t really understand it. Although I do have a perfectly preserved replay in my memory of Tim Krumrie’s leg breaking in the Super Bowl. That traumatized me. When we moved to Knoxville, we were newly married in a new town where we knew no one. It was early in football season, 1998, the year the Tennessee Vols went undefeated and won the National Championship. The weekend we moved down was the big victory over Florida. We lived on campus, so it was easy to get swept into the team spirit. We watched college and NFL together each weekend and Jason taught me all about it. I treasured those hours together. At the time, the Bengals sucked so they got little TV coverage in Knoxville. I never had much affection for the Titans but in 1999 I became enthralled by “The Greatest Show on Turf”. I loved the Cinderella story of Kurt Warner. When I found out we shared the same faith it endeared him to me even more. We even bought his autobiography. By the end of it I just wanted to meet him and his wife for pizza and hang out. Of course things have been downhill for him lately and I kept hoping for a great comeback but it looks like he’s done. I don’t know if he’s done as far as his skills but he isn’t going to receive any more chances to make the big plays. I don’t watch the Rams much anymore now that Kurt’s gone. Some people would say that makes me a fair-weather fan and maybe it does but I think I was just a Kurt Warner fan.



Despite my love for football, I still don’t have the passion or knack for it like my husband does. I know he’s glad to have some men to discuss it with and now that we have Direct TV and he has many sports channels, well he’s just in heaven. Try as I might, I still can’t keep track of who’s in the AFC or the NFC, or who’s in what division. I do know the Bengals division at least. I don’t remember plays from 3 years ago like Jason does. It’s all I can do to keep track of the ball from the quarterback to the receiver but I don’t have the ability to watch the whole field and see someone getting held. I still need some things explained to me, like a random rule or a game strategy. I don’t recognize field formations. So, I'm not a superfan but I love it anyway. Jason bought me The Mom's Pocket Guide to Football and it's helped.

Two weeks ago, Jason and I took two days off of work and took a road trip to Canton and Cleveland, OH, our destinations being The Football Hall of Fame and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame.

I definitely don’t have a good grasp on NFL history, so the Football Hall of Fame was more for Jason than for me. It was interesting to see some of the older jersey’s and helmets. They had great little highlight films like one about fantastic finishes that won the game in the last seconds. There were lots of game balls, which, if you’ve seen one football, you’ve seen them all in my opinion. I guess I should be thrilled that that’s the one so and so caught in the end zone to win the game.

They had a display of each team with their list of inductees and some memorabilia from those players. I learned that the Bengals only had one player inducted so far. I was proud to see Anthony Munoz’s jersey representin’. He holds a special place in my heart. He’s just a great guy and a great player. His son plays for my beloved Vols and came to speak at our church for a youth group event. Classy stuff.

The actual Hall was a creepy room full of heads.

I thought the museum was great and I would recommend it, especially for diehard fans and older fans who know more of the history. It didn’t hold my attention as long as it did Jason’s but I still enjoyed it. Next stop…..Rock & Roll baby!

Am I Too Grown Up?

Did you ever go to one of those pools where they had adult swim? The lifeguard would blow the whistle and all the kids would groan. It seemed to be the most unjust thing in the world. Jason said at his community pool there would always be one old lady in there floating along doing the backstroke. The kids would lurk around the edges and maybe be bold enough to dip a foot in. I just remember thinking that adults didn’t know how to use a pool. They didn’t look like they were having fun at all.

So now I’m all grown up and adult swim seems like a great idea. I float along and do the backstroke, well not really, but I’ll do swim laps or something equally boring. I had the occasion to swim with some young college age ………I want to call them kids but that’s not fair……young college age people last weekend. They knew how to use a pool. They didn’t just lie on a raft and soak up the son. They jumped in the pool and on the rafts. They turned over anyone that was resting on one. They pushed the rafts up and down to turn the pool into a wave pool. They tackled each other and wrestled each other. They shrieked and laughed and had an absolute blast. I just tried to stay out of their way. It brought back feelings I haven’t felt in a while. I remember playing the same way. Part of me wanted to join in, but the bigger part of me didn’t. It would've definitely been out of character and they would've been pretty shocked.

I do envy my husband who is able to connect with my nieces and nephews in ways that I can’t. He gets down on their level and plays with them. They wrestle and tickle. They use their imaginations and play games. He’s the same way with his youth group. I mean, the man plays in a dodge ball league! But when he needs to, he can transition from play mode to mature, responsible mode in a minute. He knows when to be goofy and wild and play but through his counseling, service and ministry the kids know he is someone who cares and someone they can count on.

I forget how to play. How does that happen? When did it happen? I’m not 100% sure that it's a bad thing. Is it because I’m afraid of looking foolish? I think that's part of it. I still have fun but in different ways. I rarely have the kind of fun that leads to squealing laughter. Am I missing out? I’m happy with my life, so maybe not. Will those college students catch up to me with my boring maturity?

Anagram

This site is fun. You type in your name and it gives you anagrams for your name. For example my name scrambled comes out:

Ninjas Bereft
Barf Nine Jest
Jab Fine Rents
Nabs Finer Jet
Jeans Bit Fern

Update: OOPS! I forgot to tell you the site. It's http://wordsmith.org/anagram/

The word “bridge” does not occur in the Bible. There may be two reasons. One is that God doesn’t build bridges, he divides seas. The other is that usually his people must pass through the deadly currents of suffering and death, not simply ride over them. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you” (Isaiah 43:2). They may drown you. But I will be with you in life and death.

~ John Piper