As I have bragged before (here, here and here or when he got me a Frank Thomas ball) my little brother is a beat reporter for MLB.com as the Blue Jays reporter. While I enjoy baseball, I’m nowhere near the avid fan my little brother is – which is why I marvel at his writing. As I blogged about once before, I am impressed at how his writing transcends mere baseball reporting. I’m not a Blue Jays fan (technically he isn’t either), but I follow his blog as I because I enjoy his writing and I don’t want to miss when one of these “beyond baseball” masterpieces comes through.Well, he did it again! He has written another “baseball article” that demonstrates that his ability to articulate LIFE and not just baseball, and is what makes him such a masterful sports writer.

Before you read his article about how Blue Jays top prospect Travis Snider has dealt with several deaths recently, including his mother, it might interest you first to realize a few things not mentioned in the article about Jordan’s personal connection to this story. First of all,  Snider’s mom Jordan’s and my mother both have the same name, though spelled slightly differently, his Patty, our Patti. Secondly, our mom passed away in 1996 while Jordan was still in middle school, and so he has experienced much of what Travis shared with him. As you read this article, you learn not only how Travis Snider has dealt with loss, but you get a glimpse into the understanding that this writer has, that perhaps others would not.

You can read the article here: Snider Finding Solace on Diamond.

And in case that link ever breaks, here is a link to download the article as a PDF file: Jordan Bastian Snider Article PDF preserved through Y3K on my server. You may send him feedback if you wish.

Headin’ to Wrigley in Style!

My wife saw my “Do the Dew” hat as I left and said, “You don’t have a Cubs hat?” (um, I’m a Sox fan!) But I answered, “I will when I get back!” We went to pick up some friends (see below) and were on our way to root on the Cubs! I should mention that my niece is the only Cubs fan in her family, the rest are Sox fans, but she is loyal to her other uncle, (my brother), who is a serious Cubs fan.

My first pleasant surprise was that that there is FREE PARKING at a Cubs Game! Granted, we were there early to get a Prebuilt-a-Bear for the girls, but we parked right on the street just a few blocks away from the park, only one hour before the game. Hmmmmm. Can’t do that at a Sox Game.

A reason to switch back to being a Cubs Fan?!??

Then I saw it, a Taco Bell across the street from Wrigley Field! With a Cubs hat on the sign AND they let you take your Taco Bell into the park! Hmmmmm, maybe I should rethink this whole switch to Sox thing….

And THEN:

The Force is with Me

THEN I finally get to see one of the R2-D2 Mailboxes, right across from the park. I haven’t even gotten to the game and already… free parking… Taco Bell you can take in with you… R2-D2…. hmmmmm

Sprained? Strained? Twisted?
Call 1-877-Athletico! Save this number!

We finally got to the park, found our seats up where the birds fly, and settled in. With my extra two tickets I brought Master Ron, a new kids pastor, and his daughter, made our balloon hats, and settled in for the game.

It’s always fun with Master Ron around!

It’s fun to watch the fans… like these girls who kept holding their sign upside down, even after looking at it from the top (looks right to us!)…

Upside Down Fan Sign!

I did buy a hat, but I got a Wrigley Field hat since anything with a red C on it was $10 more! But I do like Wrigley Field. It just feels more like baseball than Sox Park which feels so commercial. (excuse me, US Cellular Field.. even the name, yuck!) Wrigley has little food and sourvenier shops tucked in every available spot, and a fun atmosphere. Our girls were squirting (well, misting) people who walked by our seats, since we were row 1 in front of a walk way, and it was 96 degrees out, and everyone was friendly, even the Phillies fans… which there were a LOT of there!

House Top Bleachers!

Plus, it is cool to see the skyline and the houses across the street that have bleachers set up on top of them!

Close up view of the house top bleachers.

We had a great time, despite the intense heat… at least we were in the shade. But by the time we got to the end of the long game, I remembered why I am no longer a Cubs fan… they lost, and I’ve never been to a winning Cubs game, even when they are supposedly in first place. Oh, well.

Uncle Karl with his any team baseball shirt on and niece

Like I said on Sunday night, GO SOX, GO CUBS, GO ANY TEAM someone gives me free tickets too… anyone got any Bulls tickets? I haven’t been to a Bulls game since Phil Jackson was there! I’d even go to a Bear Game!

The Presentation of the Frank Thomas Ball

In April I went to visit my brother in Dietroit and got to meet Frank Thomas. The highlight wasn’t meeting this famous ball hitter, it was hearing my little brother (who I taught baseball to) say, “Hey, Frank, I’d like you to meet my brother.” Of course, I wanted an auto-graph, but since we were in the clubhouse, and I was there with a temporary press pass, that is prohibited. So I had to settle for a hand shake. Even my brother, because he is press for Major Leage Baseball is not allowed to ask for autographes. So how did I get this?

My autographed Frank Thomas Ball!

Well, I also got to meet with John Gibbons, the Blue Jays manager, and after I left, he went and asked Frank for an autographed ball, and gave it to my brother and instructed him to give it to me. It must have pained him to hand it over, but he’s a good brother, and he obeyed the manager. He told me about it then, but I had to wait until the next visit to get the ball. So now I have it. Cool, huh?

But auto-graphed ball or not, the highlight is still getting to see my bro! Especially, when he calls in a favor to the White Sox beat reporter and scores me four tickets to Sundays game! I took some friends along and had a great time.

Is that a Cubs shirt with a Sox hat?!?!

I did where all White Sox to the game, but it was very hot, and so I wore my Cubs sleeveless shirt under the warm black WS jersey… which I had to shed until the shade finally covered us. But I promise, I am a Sox fan! Unless I go to that Cubs Game on Thursday. I guess I’m still conflicted. After questioning my Cubs fan status two years ago (when the Sox went all the way) I officially switched so I could cheer on the White Sox as a fan. But in the end, I guess I am a Chicago Fan! I’ll accept free tickets to either team!

Frank a Blue Jay?

It was kinda weird seeing Frank as a Blue Jay hitting against the Sox. But he’s not the first Sox to wear Blue Jays at Celluar Field. I did it at great risk last year!

The “Big Hurt” hurtin’ as he struck out at all at bats.

It was great to see my brother again, it’s never often enough! We even got a visit with Gramma in:

Me, Gram, and Jordan.

and I just have to include a picture of Luke with the shirt and Jordan and Auntie Kelly got him:

Born to be Blogged!

Is that not a perfect shirt for him? He is probably the most blogged boy in history!

Luke and his Great Grandmother, Maggie
(photo by Jordan, edited by Karl)

Had some employee kids hangin’ out in the office today. (No, I don’t employ children, I mean children of an employee!) The Kidology Headquarters is filled with a LOT of toys and props, but playing with Speed Stacks is often the favorite pass time of kids doomed to hang out while mom works. Their favorite thing is building giant towers to… uh, knock over, and build again.

But this time I got into it when they couldn’t reach the top of their tower, and I couldn’t stand to have seven extra cups unused, so I made a single tower and placed it on top.

Here are the proud architects of this Tower of Stacks. Unfortunately, for the cups, they didn’t get to stay stacked for long, as you’ll see in this video:

Luckily for me, clean up time is just as fun!

But if the Bears didn’t shine, my wife did! So rather than try to give any football commentary (and make a fool of myself) instead this blog’s purpose is simply to show off the AWESOME and AMAZING SUPER BOWL CAKE that my wife made for our Bears Party. And please, do leave her some comments… I know she’ll be checking!

But is this an awesome cake or what?!?!?!? It should have been illegal to cut into it!

Feast your eyes on this: (since only we got to actually feast on IT)

PS: My sister will also instant message me a complaint if I don’t mention that SHE made the gummy team logos in the end zones. Pretty cool, eh?

But with all the senior writers being busy with the World Series, my little brother Jordan, got to cover a major article, about the death of Joe Neikro.

I wanted to post the link to the article on my blog because I wanted to show off how great a writer my brother is.

I enjoy do enjoy baseball. If you drop by my house in the afternoon, you may find me tossing a ball at the pitchback in my backyard, a recent new habit when I just need time to think. I’d like to claim credit for teaching Jordan everything he knows about baseball since I AM his big brother, but he and I both know better. But I’m not a huge fan or follower of baseball, though I do really enjoy championship games, and especially when they are Chicago teams!

But I am always amazed how my brother can take a subject that usually isn’t of great interest to me, especially the death of a player I’d never heard of, and mingle in a bunch of otherwise unrelated facts, and craft it into an article that gets me engaged.

Now I have all these questions about this Niekro family. I learned about a dad who taught his boys a knuckleball pitch that he developed when he injured his pitching arm. A pitch that the older Niekro, Phil, used to build a very successful career, and one that he tossed his little brother during a game in 1976 so that the younger Joe could have his only home run in his twenty-two year career. I liked imagining the big brother, setting aside team rivalry when Joe came to the plate, to toss his little brother the “secret family pitch” so he could get that home run. Not that Joe wasn’t a good player, but his records were to be made on the mound, not at the plate. Then I learned that just oever ten years later, Joe’s eight year old son, Lance, a bat boy at the time, got to ride in a post-season celebration convertible with his dad…. and must have caught the baseball bug too, as he would later follow his dad and uncle into the major leagues.

All that to say – a good writer pulls you into a story that you otherwise would have no interest in, and leaves you wishing you knew more about the characters within.

Way to go little brother!

I wish I could say I taught him all he knew about writing too.

Go ahead, read the article yourself!

Here are some pictures, and a COOL VIDEO at the end!

Pastor Karl teaching the Way of the Cups…The eager padawan learners…

Practise makes perfect…

Downstack before moving on…. left to right… no fumbles….

Use both hands…. don’t worry about being fast… learn it right, and you will be fast!

Cup Master Karl expounding on the Secrets of the Cups…

Oh, the great feeling of a good smooth up stack!

A few were already for competition! But remember, your greatest opponent is only yourself! You can always go one hundredth of a second faster!

After the instruction, practise and some competing… I got to my message. When I started making a long row of cups along the table, the room fell silent, and then filled with murmors… ‘He’s going to make a GIANT STACK!’

As I build, I ask the kids to tell me what determines how HIGH the stack can go? The usual answer is ‘how many cups I have.’ Which is the wrong answer. Even if I had a thousand cups (which I probably do!) the height of the stack is determined by the width of the bottom row.

Why is that important? Because in life, CHILDHOOD is when you are building the foundation of your life. I tell the kids that every lesson they learn, every positive character trait they build into their life while they are young, will determine how high and strong and great their life can become. It is very hard to add to your foundation later. I help them figure out that adding just ONE cup will add MANY MORE to the tower, in the tower above, one cup added 30 more! A second cup added only on 30 more, but actually 31, because another cup could be added over the two added rows up… so the more they learn and the more good and right habits they form WHILE THEY ARE young will have life-long good consequences!

Pretty cool stack, huh? Then I point to ONE cup in the bottom center, and say it represents that ONE lesson they didn’t want to learn, that ONE time they decide to disobey, that ONE wrong thing they decide to do, whether it is something illegal, or dangerous or wrong – and ask what would happen to this giant tower if I removed only that ONE cup…..

WATCH THE VIDEO to find out! (QuickTime 9MB) You’ll see the devestating power of one bad decision, or one wrong act, or one important truth of lesson that you ignore or don’t listen to when you are young. Kids need to know they have a choice – no matter what their background or situation – they have a choice on how they want their life to be…. big and strong and impressive like the tower… or… broken and destroyed by one bad mistake.

I end by showing the one cup that brought down the whole tower… and ask them to think about what could be that ‘one cup’ in their life… and encouage them to choose wisely. Listen to their parents, teachers, pastors and others in their life who know and love them!

For more information on how I use Sport Stacking in my ministry, visit: VCBkids Speed Stacking Site or www.SpeedStacks.com or the World Sport Stacking Association.

My sister Melissa tried not to walked tooooo close to me as I entered Sox territory dressed as a Blue Jays fan! I was very curious what the reaction would be from the Sox fans to my shirt, jacket and waving flag!

Here I am in my Blue Jays disguise! I really look the part, huh? I had people singing ‘Oh Canada’ when I walked by, but mostly just ‘looks’ – you know, like, ‘What are you doing here?’

I had a little trouble getting past security who tried to throw me out. I claimed to be a Sox fan undercover and they asked me to name a Sox player. Which I couldn’t, but then, I couldn’t name a Blue Jays player either! “Ozzie! Ozzie! I yelled.” Finally, two sore shoulder blades later, they finally released me. But it was no better when I got into the stands….

I was ruthlessly attacked my maniac Sox fans there as well! I pleaded with them to not judge a fan by his clothing… but they said no true Sox fan would allow the enemy’s logo to touch them! I barely escaped with my life!

But the real reason for the visit on this historic day was to see my little brother at work. See him there in the Press Box?? Squint and you can see him in his green shirt. (Click on the image for an enlargement)

OK, here is enlarged and enhanced, does that help? Right in the center, second row back, hand on chin, green shirt.

Here is Jordan from the other side, he is actually on the phone with Melissa in this shot. THAT’S MY BABY BROTHER!!

This is a super zoomed in shot… but see him contemplating how he can be writing for a foreign government’s baseball team and still call himself an American.

He was able to pull himself away and come down to say hello. This is my dad, Jordan and Blue Jays Me before the game.

Also along tonight was Melissa (my sister) and her husband Keith. Both are Sox fans and have had Sox season tickets in the past, but something is amiss in their parenting since both their kids are Cubs fans…. under the influence of their Uncles, of course!

Tonight was Calendar Night, and I got my brother to sign my calendar! I am thinking of selling it on ebay and seeing what I can get for it! He went off to work, and I went for a walk to explore the park since I’ve not been to this park in over ten years!

First stop was the men’s room. Steve Tanner would enjoy knowing that the hand dryers are not electronic with scrolling advertising screnes, but are just boring manual towel dispensers. Guess I won’t be getting any free Sox tickets for blogging the hand dryers at US Cellular Field!

I managed to walk down VERY close to the field for a few pictures and to see how the fans with the best seats responded to seeing me in my Blue Jays stuff down there. Not too bad, Sox fans are good sports. I did, however, find another church leader who was skipping the Good Friday Service! (Who shall remain safely anonymous if my demands are met!) I walked up to him and said, “So, you are skipping the Good Friday Service?” And he seemed a little surprised to have a pastor (at the game) asking him that. But he had a good excuse too. He had bought the tickets at an auction for Katrina relief at our church, but it was still amazing to find someone you knew among 31,000 in attendance!

Next, I went up to see the Stadium Club. (entrance to this exclusive club came with my tickets!) I had missed meal time, but it was cool to see a fancy restaurant layered so that every table had a great view. Best of all, it was air-conditioned.

I even met a Blue Jays fan… but I didn’t tell him I was imposter… I let him think he had met another Canadian. Poor guy. He finds one friend, and its actually an undercover Sox fan! I didn’t have the heart to tell him. I had two drunk girls come up to me and claim to be from Canada, but I’m not sure they knew where they were from. I passed on taking a picture with them to avoid trouble with the wife. One other guy we saw from a distance had an “I love Canada” hat on – but other than that, it was Sox territory. Since the restaurant was closed, I went upstairs to see the bar… bad idea.

I got jumped by a bunch more crazy Sox fans who didn’t believe my claims to Sox fandom!! It was then that I realized that during my walk the Sox had lost their 5-2 lead, and were now down by a huge margin!!

11 to 5!? Things were not looking good for the Sox, so fearing I may not get out of the park alive, I slipped into a store and bought myself a Sox jersey, hid my Blue Jays apparel and turned my hat backwards, so only those behind me would see my Blue Jays logos.

I made it out alive having survivied my mission as an undercover Sox fan dressed as a Blue Jays fan. Plus, I embarrassed my family – MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

Read my brothers report on the game:

Blue Jays Win Third Straight with Power

While the Bears let us down this season (but made it to playoffs at least) – they are not the only football team in town! That’s right, there is always the AFL (Arena Football League) which I’m more a fan of now than the NFL – since I’ve been to twice as many games as NFL. (AFL-2, NFL-0)

The Chicago Rush are our team. (though at the time of this posting, their site is down!) Their opening is a lot of fun – flames! fireworks! cheerleaders! (ok, forget the cheerleaders, sharp elbow from Sara) but they do a great job at setting the tone for the game… I mean, how can they possibly lose after that intro!

Shhhhh! Don’t tell the fire marshall the flames nearly reach the roof!

If you aren’t familiar with Arean Football – it is played a little differently – kinda all the best of the NFL, just more action on a small field, and hey! You can actually afford tickets! The field goal is higher and narrower, and if you miss the ball might just bounce off the side nets and still be good to grab and go! The walls along the side are ‘in’ if a player just touches (or pushes off them) but out if you are clobbered into one. The game is enough the same that it is still easy to follow, but just enough different to make it a little more interesting. Plus, did I mention, tickets are affordable?

The Chicago Rush! Part of the AFL = Affordable Football League

Kidology’s director of web operations, Steve Tanner (and his wife Amy) are big Chicago Rush fans… though you might not know that attending with them since Steve spends half the game yelling at them (‘holding them accountable’ is what he calls it) This was part of an anniversary celebration for Steve and Amy and he even got their “Happy Anniversary Steve and Amy” up on the scoreboard. (I’m sure that will be on his blog soon)

Here is a stressed out Steve frustrated by the way the Rush managed to remain 10-11 points behind nearly the entire game.

Here’s Sara and Steve’s wife Amy… usually she gets to elbow Steve when he gets too obnoxious yelling at his beloved team, so she just elbowed Sara, who passed it on to me, and I got to do the honors. It actually was a pretty exciting game! While Steve had declared we would lose after the very first play, I maintained hope and optimism throughout the game. And in the end, er, in the near end, I was right! They came back, pulled ahead, and then after an amazing down to the wire play with only seconds left they pulled off a winning touchdown to WIN THE GAME! It was pretty cool to hear the stadium go nuts in celebration… until the ref finally got everyone attention and shocked even the losing team that actually there was a penalty and the game went to the visiting team. The stadium got so quiet you could hear a pin drop as the whole place fell silent. You could actually hear the winning players on the field cheering the stadium got so depressingly quiet… like a grave yard. I caught the whole final play and celebration and the beginning of the horrid realization on video.

I used my wife’s camera which records a format of AVI that I can’t view on my Mac, though I can hear it, and even the audio is fun. If anyone knows how to convert it is QT or WMV I’d love to see it. DOWNLOAD IT HERE: CHICAGO RUSH WINS almost (AVI 12.81MB)

Even though it was our second time to a losing Chicago Rush game, it was still a lot of fun. But the highlight was in the bathroom. Did you know that the Alstate Arena has advertising hand washers! WOW! This is soooo neat-o!

While you dry your hands, you can read advertisement about different products. There is even an ad inviting you to place your own ad on the hand dryer. I got the number, but I’m trying to decide whether to advertise Kidology.org or my blog on the hand washers. But I just had to blog the hand dryers, it’s got to be one of the coolest things ever!

Maybe the Hand Dryer company will find my blog post and give me some FREE TICKETS to another Chicago Rush game! Hey, it worked for Steve, it’s worth a try!

FREE TICKETS PLEASE!!!

Well, today, he is HEADLINE #1! It was his FIRST POST as the official Blue Jays beat writer for MLB.com Of course, this big brother is proud, and so glad I taught him sooooo much about baseball!

Best part is, y’all can send him e-mail questions about the Blue Jays! Like:

• Why do Canadian teams get to play as part of the American league when they AREN’T AMERICANS!!
• Are Blue Jays allowed to Jay Walk in Toronto?
• Do they feel Blue when they lose?
• Do they bring home Canadian bacon to their wives?
• Who’s on first? What’s on second? (I don’t know on third)

and other deep and profound questions about his team.

(this is just an image, if you are trying to type up there! you need to go to his article)

Anyway, I’m proud of my litl’ bro – like me – he reached ten year career goals right out of college… pretty fun! That only means that there are even greater things ahead… but for now he is excited to get PAID to watch and write about baseball (and eat, sleep, and dream about it too) Someday, I hope he gets to be the Chicago Cubs beat writer… not only would that be cool, but at least they actually ARE Americans! (in the National League, granted.)

SEND MY BRO SOME CONGRATS AT: bluejaysmailbag@gmail.com

Tommie talked about his faith, his good upbringing, and how he tries to live his faith in a sport that often confronts him with situations that are not Christian. He said that a lot of players say they are a Christian but the evidence is in how they actually live off the field. Of course, the kids wanted to know about injuries and he shared again about his thumb bone poking out of the skin much to the delight of the kids.

But I decided we needed to shake things up a bit, and save Tommie from the same questions being asked over and over, so I came up at the end, and asked if he had heard about one of the fastest growing sports in America? Speed Stacks? or the World Sport Stacking Association?

Tommie, hadn’t, so I presented him with his own set of Orange Speed Stacks (plus instructional DVD) and taught him the basic cycle right there on the spot.

(to restart animation of cycle, simple reload the page)

Then I challenged him to a fun first match. I promised to stack the cycle three times while he tried to do it once. Obviously, he couldn’t complete the cycle having just learned it, but he was a great sport and hammed it up for the kids.

WATCH THE VIDEO OF TOMMIE HARRIS:

or download here:
TOMMIE HARRIS SPORT STACKING (QT 18.5MB)

The kids were all cheering for him and trying to give him advice and pointers as he playfully stacked. It was a lot of fun. At the end, he promised to be ready for me next year! GO TOMMIE! I accept the challenge!

It was a very intense game! A battle of the pitchers. My favorite WS stat was this, WAIT! I will make it a quiz, and see who is the first to post the answer in the COMMENTS! You MIGHT even win a prize!!

Q: What White Sox Player became the FIRST baseball player IN HISTORY to win TWO World Series Games on the same day AND on his birthday??? (same day because Game Three went into the 14th inning and into the morning hours)

Finally, THEY WON! This is me with the family I watched the game with. (Not pictured is Sara, who isn’t a baseball nut like the rest of us.)

Did I convert to being a White Sox Fan and desert my Cubbies? Nope. I decided to have an AL favorite team and an NL favorite team. Now all I have to figure out is which team is in which league. (See what a serious baseball fan I am?)

All I’m wondering is, when the Astros lost, did they all go in the clubhouse and pour Minute Maid over their heads?

You have GOT to watch these GOT MILK videos! I guess baseball is kinda mad about them, but they are VERY funny!!

WATCH THEM ALL HERE
If you can find where to be able to download them, let me know,
on this site you can only stream them, but they play very well.

I’ve been asking myself, WHY am i a Cubs fan???

Well, good question. Mostly because my grandfather was and took me to games as a little kid, BUT he usually took me when they played California teams (since i was visiting from CA when we went) and I cheered for the opposing team much to his frustration. Secondly, because, my little brother Jordan Bastian is a HUGE Cubs fan, and I like to support my brother.

But last weekend at my Grandma’s 90’s birthday party, there was my brother wearing a SOX cap!!!

(these shirts were father’s day and bro birthday gifts from Sara and me)

So, I asked myself, if it wasn’t for my Grandpa and my traitor brother, WHY would I be a Cubs fan??? If I were to pick a team on my own, not being a huge baseball fan, I’d probably pick the Sox.

WHY?

Because they wear black and white, which is very cool, and my favorite color combination to wear. Oh, yeah, and the little fact that they WIN GAMES!

I still do not own on article of White Sox clothing, unless you count my white socks, but if i buy a hat or shirt, it will be a significant thing. Normally, I don’t let a passing fad impact my shopping.

SO TELL ME:

• If you are a Cubs fan…. why should I stay loyal to the Cubs when my grandfather is gone (may he rest in peace) and my own brother betrays his team?
• If you are a Sox fan… tell me why I should switch? Because if i switch, I will switch for the good and the bad, not just during the World Series. These games have been AMAZING to watch, and I’ve been very impressed. Lure me over, I’m close!
• Use the comments below to sound in! (Cubs fans may feel free to use the anonymous feature)

I just might have a new hobby! This is the coolest thing! WOW! WOW! WOW!

After Sports Camp finished up (final post on that coming soon!) a bunch of us all went out for some Chicago Pizza and it was there that I learned about an awesome sport – a sport that you must be 18 to play and have a driver’s license – and yet, ironically, it was introduced to me by a friend who is 15 and doesn’t have a driver’s license! (he knows the guy who owns the place…. cool!)

So the next thing I know I am blowing off work… er, um… I mean, going on a pastoral visit to encourage our guest missionaries by treating them to an outing to thank them for all their hard work all week…. (yeah, that’s better) and it was off to Chicago Indoor Racing!

The VCB Racing Team!
Rob, Tiffany, Steve, Tye and Me
(Tiff and Tye were our Uncharted Waters Coaches all week)

Team Ninja?

Here we are in our Ninja Pose since you have to wear a ‘head sock’ under your helmet unless, like Steve, you have your own racing flack jacket and helmet! We had to go through intense orientation and training and then sign away our lives and promise not to sue if we died out there racing.

Here’s me in my Formula LM Race Car.
(LM = lawn mower)

It was a TON of fun… you race about twenty laps per race and everything is recorded by computer – lap times, best lap time, average, etc. At the end you get a print out that details your standing and graphs every lap of the race between all the drivers. All your info is saved so that you can work to beat your scores in future races. My first race placed me in 4th place on the team, and in the bottom 36% of all racers… but, hey, it was my first race! In my second race I was somehow able to beat my first race times while finishing last. Oh, well. Jesus said the last shall be first! So, yes, I got beat by two girls…. but I’ll take them on in a unicycle race anyday!

See those blurs? Could you handle such velocities? Have you a NEED FOR SPEED? I’m thinking I need to plan an adult birthday party racing tournament in September…. Any challengers out there?

UP-DATE (not in e-mail notification): 4MB VIDEO OF TRACK

DOWNLOAD AN EXCITING 8MB QUICKTIME VIDEO:
DAY ONE FUN!

(it is truly amazing what a Mac can crank out in no time!)
[Seems QuickTime 7 is Required, you might need to upgrade]Here are some highlights of the day:

Showin’ em how its done!

Best of all, these kids are leaning about God and how to BREAK FREE from the problems of this world! Check back each day for more pics, and be sure to watch the HIGHLIGHT VIDEO of DAY ONE!

GOLFIN’

Once again, it was time for another VCB STAFF MINI GOLF TOURNAMENT. Of course, who wins doesn’t matter – it’s all about the fellowship.
(since I didn’t win)Pastor Dave is still trying to repeat his amazing victory from 1999 when he was in second place (behind me) and won first place on a hole in one on the 18th hole!!! AND it was on a steep drop with NO way to aim. At best, anyone could get a two par, but after his lucky shot, I missed my two to tie him trying to tap in an amazing tee off (did I mention down a steep drop?), and ended up in a miserable second place. Pastor’s Dave’s victory was TOTAL LUCK and while I have completely forgotten about it and moved on and finished my counseling on it, I just thought I’d mention it.

Pastor John won our last time out, but this time the Force was not with him.

Pastor Jim is pretty good…

though his golf balls do seem to prefer water over grass…

Pastor Tim did the Canadians proud with a strong finish…

Even our office manager, Retta, proved that those from
Down Under can putt!

But the winner went to Dick, our business administrator, who I believe is a first time mini-golfer with us, though he is known to be out of the office on ‘environmental studies’ quite often that are rumored to take place on golf courses.

CAMPIN’

Next, I headed off to Camp Timber-lee where I have been a camp speaker for kids camps every year since 1997, often for two weeks. It is an AWESOME CAMP! Incredible activities for kids, great food (!), and a wonderful spiritual atmosphere. This year was a little different, in that, instead of being a daily camp speaker for one week, I did a magic show on Wednesday every week of camp for both kids camps and junior high. While I would prefer to be a camp speaker (I love the relationships, getting to know the kids, and not just teach, but play with them, getting to know them, etc.), I enjoyed a change of pace and got to see a lot of kids that remembered me from previous years. I was amazed at how many campers I still remembered their names (or nicknames). Getting to go to Junior High camp was awesome too – about half the campers knew me from kids’ camp. Normally, I’m a little nervous to doing a magic show for junior highers (and usually would NOT do a puppet) but these junior highers would chant for Gus, so it was a good thing I had him along! I hope to be a camp speaker again next year, but this was a ton of fun!

Then it was off to a camp ground for our annual Kidology Staff / VCBkids Leadership Team camping trip. We combine the groups because, well, most of them are part of both in some way either as employees of Kidology, board members, volunteers at church, etc. It is a great time to play together, and get to know spouses and kids better.

The hammock is my favorite spot, ‘cept when Max threw a football while I was asleep as a joke and hit me right in the nose!

My annual BB Gun range with my arsenal of .177 fire power is always a hit!

A trip to a local beach on a lake was a blast. It was in the low 90’s – a bit hot for me – but everyone seemed to have a great time,
between black outs.

I did some doodlin’ in Olivia’s sketch book…
that is Half Dome and Mirror Lake…

and what is a children’s ministry (or Kidology) related event without Speed Stacks? Here I am demonstrating Speed Stacks, and yes, my eyes are closed. Just one of many ways to try and make it fair if one handed or upside down cups doesn’t help my poor opponents win.

But my favorite is and will always be the singing and sharing around the camp fire!

PARTYIN’

Then Sunday, it was the K.C. Krew year end party at Master Ron’s house – Ron did Kids Church while I was on sabbatical… and his wife is Kidology’s bookkeeper. Anyway, it was an awesome day at their house which is on a lake.

Ron did some juggling for the kids, like these flaming torches!

Then we went out on their pontoon boat.

BEFORE….

AFTER!

Me practicing my Karate Kid Dive!

KING OF THE WORLD!

I decided to jump off and swim all the way back to the beach….

That didn’t last too long, I made it half way, and then hitched a ride!

Ron let me drive the boat!

What a fun week this has been! I am so blessed with so many beautiful children in my life. Their smiles, laughter and energy are an inspiration. I may not have any kids of my own yet, but I sure am lucky to know so many terrific and wonderful kids!

Then it was time to head home. As you can see, I’ve been workin’ out!
And yes, Sara was there with me the whole time, but she took most of the pics!

There, Jordan, is that a long enought blog for ya? SEE why I’ve not had time to blog? Been havin’ too much fun! Now it is 2am and I am going to bed!

see full article

As family and most friends know, my little bro got all grown up and married recently, and now right out of college at MSU, is off to Toronto (in the northern nation…. what’s it called?) and is covering the Blue Jays for MLB.com. Jordan has been an advid baseball player and writer since as soon as I taught him to throw. (Yes, I taught him everything he knew about baseball up to around age 7, after that, he’s always known more than me, and surpassed his baseball mentor quickly in skill.) One thing we both share is a love for writing – I write about and for children’s ministry, he writes about baseball.

Well, after writing for the Lansing State Journal during college (for fun search for jordan bastian on LSJ, and get 61 pages of results!), his major league coverage has begun!

full article

Please pray for my brother – its a tough job, he has to go to every baseball game, get there early, meet pro players, write about them, watch the game, plus he has several deadlines throughout the game (Jordan puts your schedule in comments!) and then after the game has to do more interviews. It’s very stressful and time consuming. I mean, he has to do what he loves all day almost every day, and get paid to watch baseball from a press box. My heart goes out to him. Hang in there bro!

is my new 5 foot unicycle!

I debuted my new 6 foot unicycle tonight at Awana! If you follow this blog, you read the post ‘On Top of the Word’ (read here), where I learned to ride a tall unicycle on my first try at CPC. So as soon as I got home, I ordered one on ebay!

Unicycle Like An Eqyptian

I never was very good at basketball…

But suddenly I have a HUGE,
er, TALL advantage!

Move over Mike!
I CAN SLAM DUNK!!