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Elevation Exhibits
Hartford Turnpike 905
MA 01545 Shrewsburry (United States)
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• Stand construction: custom build

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Elevation Point
Ryan Road 4081
Il 60031 Gurnee (United States)
More information about Elevation Point …

An overview of the available activities for Elevation Point …

• Stand construction: custom build

Ok, so I have to say that I love the music that Hillsong shares with the rest of us.  They are definitely making the big C church better off with the amazing worship music that they write and perform.  If you listen to worship music and think that is nice but I would never really listen to that during the week, that is just church music.  Well, this is not your average church music.

I want you to know that this is the kind of music that I pray we are able to have at Elevation and I know that the man that God is bringing to share his talent with us as a church is a Godly man.  I know that we are all so excited to not just start a church but be part of a REVOLUTION!

 L’ambiance générale de notre époque suscite beaucoup de doutes dans toutes les couches de la société. Les jeunes sont plus fortement touchés – ils ont toute une vie devant eux et se demandent légitimement :
 - Y a-t-il une place pour moi dans ce monde ?
 - Quel avenir ai-je dans un système de surexploitation de la Nature ?
 - Comment pourrai-je changer la société pour qu’elle soit plus juste ?
 
 Ces questions, et tant d’autres, sont tout à fait justifiées. Ces inquiétudes face à l’avenir doivent être le point de départ d’une quête de réponses vraies pour en arriver à des convictions solides.
 
 Pour une personne formée à la philosophie, l’attitude face aux doutes est d’investiguer, de chercher des réponses en mobilisant toute son intelligence et toutes ses ressources intérieures.
 
 Ainsi le philosophe exerce son esprit critique en prenant pour critère les Idéaux les plus nobles, les Rêves les plus grands, les Vertus les plus hautes.
 
 À l’inverse, le doute est pathologique chez ceux qui n’usent pas d’une raison éclairée. Cette pathologie s’appelle le scepticisme – une attitude de repli maladif et de “cocooning” psychologique.
 
 Et souvent, les sceptiques se regroupent pour ainsi se conforter mutuellement dans leur désengagement d’une vie héroïque.
 
 Mais les philosophes eux savent reconnaître ce qu’il y a de meilleur dans l’être humain. Il le reconnaissent particulièrement chez certains individus qui ont un mode de vie serein, plein de sagesse et dont les actions sont utiles à la société.
 
 On reconnaît un sage à ses actes avec la même évidence qu’on reconnaît l’aigle à son vol.
 
 Ces individus plus avancés, l’humanité en compte plusieurs. Ce sont des maîtres de sagesse, des “coachs pour l’âme”. Ce sont des Platon, des Confucius, des Ibn ‘Arabi, des Hypatie et tant d’autres grands philosophes.
 
 Ces maîtres de sagesse nous montrent le chemin d’élévation pour résoudre toujours mieux nos doutes. Ils nous enseignent à progresser avec force et avec courage – même dans un monde qui, sous bien des aspects, régresse.
 
 Ces maîtres de toujours, ce sont bel et bien des “coachs pour l’âme“.

Dr. Julien Lévesque, chiropraticien — Entorse de la cheville. Ressentez-vous une douleur à la face extérieure de votre cheville depuis que vous avez marché dans une crevasse, fait un saut ou trébuché d’un trottoir? Il s’agit d’une blessure fréquente chez les jeunes adultes et les sportifs (volley-ball, basket-ball, soccer, etc).

Les entorses des ligaments externes (talo-fibulaire antérieur (LTA), talo-fibulaire postérieur (LTP), fibulo-calcanéen (LFC)) sont beaucoup plus fréquentes que celle du ligament interne (deltoïdien). La douleur peut empêcher de dormir, de marcher ou de faire du sport. Le mécanisme de blessure le plus commun est l’inversion forcée de la cheville (force appliquée quand la cheville est tournée vers l’intérieur). Les causes les plus communes sont une faiblesse musculaire, une blessure antérieure mal-guérie, une chaussure non adaptée à l’activité pratiquée ou de mauvaise qualité, un mauvais patron de démarche ou encore suite à un traumatisme (collision, transfert de poids, etc).

Comment peut-on traiter l’entorse de la cheville?

Comme il existe 3 grades de blessure ligamentaire, il existe un traitement pour chacun;

Il est très important de renforcer les ligaments et les muscles autour de l’articulation de la cheville pour éviter les rechutes de blessure. Les ajustements chiropratiques vont favoriser une guérison adéquate des tissus lésés; élimination plus rapide de l’enflure (œdème), assurer la bonne direction des fibres tissulaires, assurer un apport régulier d’éléments nutritifs et favoriser l’élimination des déchets par une vascularisation adéquate. De plus, le chiropraticien va pouvoir vous recommander un programme d’entraînement et de renforcement adapté à votre état, et vous recommander une diète nutritive afin de s’assurer une guérison optimale de votre articulation.

Le Dr. Julien Lévesque est chiropraticien à la Clinique MainTenant située au 1477 boul. St-Joseph Est, Montréal, (Québec) H2J 1M6.

Vous pouvez le contacter au numéro de téléphone suivant : 514-910-7644 et visiter www.chiroenergie.ca .

Take a look at the following video!

It’s from Pastor Steven Furtick from Elevation Church. He taught his 4 year old son, Elijah, all about money.  The video serves as a great example for all of us to follow and an awesome illustration about raising children the right way.  We all need a good lesson on how to manage our money God’s way using a simple concept, right?

As Elevation says, “I hope this video challenges you, makes you smile, and encourages you to assess your own financial management of the money God has entrusted to you.”

• Give 10% to God
• Give 10% to savings
• Spend the rest

If 4 year old Elijah Furtick can manage money God’s way, so can you!

Check it out by clicking the following link: Elijah Offering Video.

Awesome!

-jordan

Apologies for taking a break from blogging that lasted longer than intended.

We were discussing how dreams sometimes let you explore alternate realities.  It’s like taking a trip and stopping in different places, imagining yourself living there.  Except on the dreamweave, it’s a spiritual journey, and you are discovering where your soul resonates.

Here’s an example:

“I’m at a camp.  I go to a central location where there is a hexagonal wood frame building, rather dark with few or no windows.  Inside an elderly man is playing a majestic pipe organ that is located in the center. The organ pipes are along one wall, enormous, glowing a kind of ivory with a gold tint.  The music is stupendous; I’ve never heard anything like it. When I wake up I can’t even begin to capture it in memory.”

Think of your soul as a fine instrument, and when you are in a good dreamspace, where you are attuned, you hear or even create beautiful music, or dance wonderful dances, or just fly!   Those kinds of dreams are called “healing dreams” because when your soul experiences that state, your whole being wakes up the next morning feeling better.

Here’s one where the dreamer experienced a surprising welcome from nature:

“My husband and I are traveling, we just left our overnight place and are driving slowly along a road next to a beautiful river. Then we’re on the river, which is wider. We see ahead rows of creatures, then realize they are dolphins, dozens of them, vertical in the water, about a foot or two of their heads visible above the surface. As we get close, we see they’re in this position to make the water spray on everyone. At first it seems funny, then as we get sprayed we realize there’s oil in the spray. We roll up our windows.

“Looming ahead we see a huge figure, a whale – perhaps a baby whale. It is rising out of the water; we know it will come down soon, maybe quite close to or on top of us. The car is a cabin cruiser now, and we veer sharply to the left to avoid being crushed. I don’t know how long the whale will stay up, but any moment I expect a huge wave. I close my eyes, trying to save holding my breath till the last moment because I don’t know how long I’ll have to hold it. Eventually I feel a gentle rising of the boat, as though a big wave is lifting us.”

Really, the drops of water/oil were a baptism and anointing, though it was so unfamiliar the dreamer was afraid of it.  Similarly with the baby whale – it was fearful to the dreamer but then she experienced a gentle elevation.

These kinds of dreams may have surprises or unexpected turns, but they are not conflict-based like some of the nightmares we talked about in our September blogs.  Rather, they bring an increased appreciation of what you can experience in the dream, and sometimes even a spiritual initiation or “elevation.”

Rainbow Vistas Elevation

Rainbow Vistas Elevation

A very good teaching from John Piper concerning the heresy of the Prosperity Gospel. Please visit http://5ptsalt.com/2009/10/31/john-piper-why-i-abominate-the-prosperity-gospel/ and watch this video.

Riflescopes are mechanical contraptions. One of the sad realities about precision shooting is that, sooner or later, you will experience a scope failure. If you’re lucky it won’t happen in the middle of a National-level competition. And hopefully the failure will be dramatic and unmistakable so you won’t spend months trying to isolate the issue. Unfortunately, scope problems can be erratic or hard to diagnose. You may find yourself with unexplained flyers or a slight degradation of accuracy and you won’t know how to diagnose the problem. And when a 1/8th-MOA-click scope starts failing, it may be hard to recognize the fault immediately, because the POI change may be slight.

When An Expensive Scope Goes Bad
Recently, this editor had a major-brand 8-25×50mm scope go bad. How did I know I had a problem? Well the first sign was a wild “drop-down” flyer at a 600-yard match. After shooting a two-target relay, I took a look at my targets. My first 5-shot group had five shots, fairly well centered, in about 2.2″. Pretty good. Everything was operating fine. Then I looked at the second target. My eye was drawn to four shots, all centered in the 10 Ring, measuring about 2.4″. But then I saw the fifth shot. It was a good 18″ low, straight down from the X. And I really mean straight down — if you drew a plumb line down from the center of the X, it would pass almost through the fifth shot.

That was disconcerting, but since I had never had any trouble with this scope before, I assumed it was a load problem (too little powder?), or simple driver error (maybe I flinched or yanked the trigger?). Accordingly, I didn’t do anything about the scope, figuring the problem was me or the load.

But, at the next range session, things went downhill fast. In three shots, I did manage to get on steel at 600, with my normal come-up for that distance. Everything seemed fine. So then I switched to paper. We had a buddy in the pits with a walkie-talkie and he radioed that he couldn’t see any bullet holes in the paper after five shots. My spotter said he thought the bullets were impacting in the dirt, just below the paper. OK, I thought, we’ll add 3 MOA up (12 clicks), and that should raise POI 18″ and I should be on paper, near center. That didn’t work — now the bullets were impacting in the berm ABOVE the target frame. The POI had changed over 48″ (8 MOA). (And no I didn’t click too far — I clicked slowly, counting each click out loud as I adjusted the elevation.) OK, to compensate now I took off 8 clicks which should be 2 MOA or 12″. No joy. The POI dropped about 24″ (4 MOA) and the POI also moved moved 18″ right, to the edge of the target.

For the next 20 shots, we kept “chasing center” trying to get the gun zeroed at 600 yards. We never did. After burning a lot of ammo, we gave up. Before stowing the gun for the trip home, I dialed back to my 100-yard zero, which is my normal practice (it’s 47 clicks down from 600-yard zero). I immediately noticed that the “feel” of the elevation knob didn’t seem right. Even though I was pretty much in the center of my elevation (I have a +20 MOA scope mount), the clicks felt really tight — as they do when you’re at the very limit of travel. There was a lot of resistance in the clicks and they didn’t seem to move the right amount. And it seemed that I’d have four or five clicks that were “bunched up” with a lot of resistance, and then the next click would have almost no resistance and seem to jump. It’s hard to describe, but it was like winding a spring that erratically moved from tight to very loose.

At this point I announced to my shooting buddies: “I think the scope has taken a dump.” I let one buddy work the elevation knob a bit. “That feels weird,” he said: “the clicks aren’t consistent… first it doesn’t want to move, then the clicks jump too easily.”

Convinced that I had a real problem, the scope was packed up and shipped to the manufacturer. So, was I hallucinating? Was my problem really just driver error? I’ve heard plenty of stories about guys who sent scopes in for repair, only to receive their optics back with a terse note saying: “Scope passed inspection and function test 100%. No repairs needed”. So, was my scope really FUBAR? You bet it was. When the scope came back from the factory, the Repair Record stated that nearly all the internal mechanicals had been replaced or fixed: “Replaced Adjustment Elevation; Replaced Adjustment Windage; Reworked Erector System; Reworked Selector; Reworked Parallax Control.”

How to Diagnose Scope Problems
When you see your groups open up, there’s a very good chance this is due to poor wind-reading, or other “driver error”. But my experience showed me that sometimes scopes do go bad. When your accuracy degrades without any other reasonable explanation, the cause of the problem may well be your optics. Here are some of the “symptoms” of scope troubles:

1. Large shot-to-shot variance in Point of Impact with known accurate loads.
2. Uneven tracking (either vertical or horizontal).
3. Change of Point of Impact does not correspond to click inputs.
4. Inability to zero in reasonable number of shots.
5. Unexpected changes in needed click values (compared to previous come-ups).
6. Visible shift in reticle from center of view.
7. Changed “feel” or resistance when clicking; or uneven click-to-click “feel”.
8. Inability to set parallax to achieve sharpness.
9. Turrets or other controls feel wobbly or loose.
10. Internal scope components rattle when gun is moved.

Source of Problem Unknown, but I Have a Theory
Although my scope came with a slightly canted reticle from the factory, it had otherwise functioned without a hitch for many years. I was able to go back and forth between 100-yard zero and 600-yard zero with perfect repeatability for over five years. I had confidence in that scope. Why did it fail when it did? My theory is side-loading on the turrets. I used to carry the gun in a thick soft case. I recently switched to an aluminum-sided hard case that has pretty dense egg-crate foam inside. I noticed it took some effort to close the case, though it was more than big enough, width-wise, to hold the gun. My thinking is that the foam wasn’t compressing enough, resulting in a side-load on the windage turret when the case was clamped shut. This is just my best guess; it may not be the real source of the problem. Remember, as I explained in the beginning of this story, sometimes scopes — just like any mechanical system — simply stop working for no apparent reason.

«Eh?!? I Paradise Lost sono tornati a fare metal? E da quando? Però potevano anche avvertirmi…». Questa è stata la mia reazione dopo i primi minuti dell’ascolto di “Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us”, l’ultimo disco in studio dello storico five-piece albionico, uscito in Italia il 28 settembre per Century Media.

La premessa autobiografica, come avrete intuito, è d’obbligo. Ho conosciuto i Paradise Lost grazie a “Sgrang!” (prodigiosa trasmissione metal della compianta Videomusic/Tmc2) ai tempi di “One Second”, ma allora la mia canzone preferita era The Last Time, tratta dal precedente nonché fondamentale “Draconian Times”, che non a caso suono ancora oggi con i miei Elevation. Se già allora inclinavo più verso il loro passato che verso il loro presente, dopo l’uscita di dischi decisamente controversi come “Host” (1999) e “Believe in Nothing” (2001), e in concomitanza con il mio periodo doom, ho ripiegato definitivamente sui loro gloriosi esordi: il debut album “Lost Paradise” non è uscito dal mio lettore cd se non a svariate settimane dall’acquisto.

Accompagnato da Fratello Corvo, sono poi andato a vederli dal vivo nella primavera del 2003, e in questa data ho avuto modo di conoscere numerosi altri brani, incluse alcune hit del loro periodo synthrock. Così, troppo impegnato nel mio compito di riscoperta dei primi album, e in quello ancor più arduo di metabolizzare e trovare il lato positivo nel corso più recente, mi sono del tutto astenuto dall’ascoltare i dischi successivi. Finché non ho deciso di tornare a vederli (il 6 dicembre all’Alcatraz di Milano), e a quel punto mi sono riproposto di acquistare per lo meno l’ultimo album per prepararmi alla data. Il risultato: una sorpresa del tutto inaspettata.

Il gothic metal, così come lo conosciamo, è un’invenzione dei Paradise Lost: e questo, signori, è gothic metal coi fiocchi. In questi solchi siamo distanti anni luce dal dark rock caldo e accattivante di “One Second” e dagli esperimenti synthpop (più o meno riusciti) in stile “gloriosi anni Ottanta”, che ammiccavano così morbosamente ai Depeche Mode che questi ultimi si voltavano infastiditi. Quest’album, si è detto da più parti, rappresenta un compiuto ritorno alle radici. Nick Holmes e soci s’infurierebbero a sentirne parlare in questo modo, nondimeno l’affermazione è legittima: a differenza, per fare un esempio, degli Anathema, che sono partiti facendo doom/death e hanno fedelmente seguito un percorso di ammorbidimento del sound, coerente fino all’inverosimile, nel caso dei Paradise Lost si è avuta la sensazione di un’improvvisa inversione a U, di uno scarto molto brusco tra “Symbol of Life” e il successivo album omonimo, che è stato generalmente interpretato come un tentativo di riapprodare a un passato sicuro, di misurarsi con formule già sperimentate, a seguito di un’evidente caduta in disgrazia presso pubblico e critica.

A mio avviso, però, non si tratta nemmeno di questo. Non del tutto, perlomeno. Mi sembra invece di notare come la premiata ditta Holmes-Mackintosh sia stata baciata da una nuova vena compositiva, che riprende gli stilemi della vecchia scuola inglese e li reinterpreta alla luce di esperienze e sonorità più moderne. Il sound risulta infatti impreziosito da un ampio spettro di suggestioni eterogenee – dal power al death melodico, dal thrash al nu metal – che risultano però così ben amalgamate da essere sì riconoscibili ma non individuabili con chiarezza. Non è il gothic facile, monotono e annacquato di molti, ma un gothic complesso, non sempre immediato, ricco di sfaccettature, con growl e cantate più limpide, accelerazioni e cambi di tempo, repentini scatti rabbiosi e improvvisi passaggi melodici, soffusi e struggenti. Il gothic metal come dovrebbe essere nel 2009.

A un songwriting particolarmente ispirato si assommano l’impiego sinora inedito delle chitarre a 7 corde e l’abile zampino del produttore Jens Bogren (già alla console per Opeth, Amon Amarth e Katatonia), che ha reso pieno servizio alla corposità del songwriting senza disdegnare spunti più “radio-friendly”, in particolar modo negli effetti applicati alla voce, che talvolta suona un po’ leccata ma efficace. Il suono è massiccio, cupo, vibrante, e la chitarra torna finalmente a ricoprire un ruolo centrale nell’equilibrio sonoro dell’album, mentre l’impiego delle tastiere è ormai ridotto al lumicino.

L’album si apre su As Horizons End, maestoso capolavoro di cupezza indescrivibile, ed è un attacco difficilmente dimenticabile. L’impressione ricorrente che ho nei primi secondi di ascolto è quella di un’immensa voragine che si apre rabbiosa nella terra arida, e una tetra fortezza fiammeggiante (o, in alternativa, la Torre di Babele di Brueghel) che ne emerge, stagliandosi minacciosa nell’inquietante cielo nero pece. Tutto questo senza neanche ricorrere a sostanze allucinogene! La voce di Nick Holmes è aggressiva ai limiti del growl, e quando attacca cantando «To remain pessimistic found in this hour of distress…» possiamo solo immaginare da quale straziante dolore spirituale sia ancora una volta prostrato. Poi arriva il ritornello, con quella semplice melodia che ti spacca il cuore in due, solo per piantare al suo interno i semi della disperazione. In mezzo a cotanta bellezza, spicca anche un break molto suggestivo, arpeggiato e meditativo, che rende il brano un’autentica delizia.

Più ruvida la successiva I Remain, che si apre su uno dei celebri arabeschi di Greg Mackintosh (quelle specie di vie di mezzo tra un lick e un solo, che se ne vanno mulinando nell’aria apparentemente irrispettose delle scale che ne regolano l’armonia) e rende particolarmente evidente il sostrato death sul quale si muove il five-piece, pur regalando momenti d’intenso lirismo. First Light ha invece una struttura piuttosto semplice e qualche passaggio orchestrale, abbinato a un ritornello un po’ “leccaculo” (ma assolutamente godibile) che potrebbe far gola, per motivi diversi, sia ai Dark Tranquillity sia ai Linkin Park, e questo fa pensare.

Frailty è un brano che riporta alla mente l’illustre passato della band, e che colpisce per le sue validissime soluzioni ritmiche e melodiche, in particolare la sua capacità di cambiare le carte in tavola ogni venti-trenta secondi circa e farla sembrare la cosa più naturale del mondo (perlomeno dopo un paio di ascolti). Dopo mezzo minuto quasi tranquillo e malinconico, parte un’inattesa cavalcata simil-power, che poi si trasforma in un morboso falso terzinato, che a sua volta si rimodifica… insomma, ascoltatela e poi ne riparliamo. Un brano di sfogo e di potenza, complesso e non eccessivamente emotivo. Tutto il contrario della successiva title-track, più lineare e immediata nella sua eterea disperazione, con un indimenticabile ritornello strappalacrime e un’atmosfera da malinconiche brughiere immerse in una tenue foschia… Un autentico capolavoro, e vi assicuro che non esagero.

L’incipit quasi gregoriano di The Rise of Denial prelude a un altro dei brani più belli del disco, cattivo, moderno e tirato, con un tema coinvolgente, un ostinato batteria-basso-chitarra che rende le due strofe particolarmente taglienti, e un ritornello che sembra cantato da James Hetfield. Tutto sommato, però, il virtuale “lato B” di questo disco risulta un po’ più debole per quanto riguarda l’ispirazione. Living with Scars riporta alla violenza dei primissimi dischi e ha un paio di spunti lodevoli, ma non lascia particolarmente il segno, mentre la successiva Last Regret spinge ulteriormente il pedale del freno per raggiungere la tipica lentezza del doom, ma non il suo funereo fascino. È semplice come la title-track ma, non avendo un analogo carico di disperazione, lascia l’ascoltatore un po’ più freddo: in definitiva, un brano che avrebbe potuto scrivere chiunque, inclusi i Paradise Lost di qualche anno fa. Qualche perplessità è suscitata anche da Universal Dream, che si distacca dalla media stilistica dell’album per flirtare un po’ troppo con thrash e affini, senza però l’afflato decadente e destabilizzante di una Your Shameful Heaven dei My Dying Bride.

Ma questi piccoli peccati originali vengono rimessi in extremis dalla conclusiva In Truth, lugubre processione che gioca sulle alternanze tra 3/4 e 4/4 e che nella strofa chiama in causa, questa volta a buon diritto, i Depeche Mode. Negli ultimi solchi sembra di vedere la fortezza di cui parlavo all’inizio riaffondare nella stessa dorsale di dolore dal quale era emersa all’inizio del disco. Ma nonostante le molte lacrime la terra è ancora arida… e la ferita sarà mai sanata?

La versione deluxe contiene anche la bonus track Cardinal Zero e le versioni orchestrali di Last Regret e della title-track, che credo valga la pena di ascoltare. Un’ultima nota frivola per gli appassionati di arte e antichità, o anche solo del buon gusto: l’artwork non è niente male. In copertina campeggia un’incisione di Holbein il Giovane, tratta dalla serie della Danza Macabra, mentre all’interno del booklet sono riprodotte la xilografia dei Quattro Cavalieri di Albrecht Dürer oltre a un’illustrazione tratta dalla Cronaca di Norimberga. Ma buona parte del design rimanda alle prime stampe del Cinquecento, come la disposizione delle immagini, e nella pagina centrale la band figura in una posa neogotica non disdicevole. Se siete indecisi tra acquistarlo e scaricarlo, spero di avervi influenzato.

Naturalmente vado ora a proporvi l’unico videoclip promozionale finora uscito in supporto di quest’album: quello di Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us. Molti hanno commentato questo clip con entusiasmo, sottolineandone l’indiscutibile intensità, ma a dire la verità, dopo l’iniziale senso di angoscia, io mi sono francamente annoiato e anche un po’ irritato. Ma non voglio rovinarvi lo spettacolo – al massimo, ne riparliamo nei commenti…

Paradise Lost, “Faith Divides Us – Death Unites Us” (2009, Century Media Records)

1 )  As Horizons End  –  2 )  I Remain  –  3 )  First Light  –  4 )  Frailty  –  5 )  Faith Divides Us - Death Unites Us  –  6 )  The Rise of Denial  –  7 )  Living with Scars  –  8 )  Last Regret  –  9 )  Universal Dream  –  10 )  In Truth

FORMAZIONE

Nick Holmes (voce), Greg Mackintosh (chitarra solista), Aaron Aedy (chitarra ritmica), Steve Edmonson (basso), Peter Damin (batteria, solo per la registrazione di quest’album)

We are here to say, enough with our creativity being fed into this corporate agenda meat grinder where what comes out the other end is the next plastic made pop-icons resembling more and more commercially driven clones determined to speak for us all. Sea Spirit seeks to further open and expand on an already taking place spiritual and symbolic conversation based on, not truth but on inner-factualness of these limitations we have yet to overcome. So, if you will, journey through our art works and ‘SOUL MANIFESTATIONS’ no different than you would explore the intricate forms of nature…the branches of trees, the spontaneous formations of crashing ‘WAVES’, the fractals of inter-woven life between matter and anti-matter, all of which are a part of us ‘ALL’.

Funding Source: Geological Survey
Funding Type: Discretionary, Cooperative Agreement
Total Available: $8.8 Million
Award Ceiling: $500,000
Deadline: 12.01.09
Eligibility: Local Governments, Higher Education Insititutions
Description:

I sit here alone

I sit where no one disturbs me

I just watch

I see nothing but my interior

I see the love

I see the pain inside me

I want to change

I want to break free

I hold a knife

Saying I’m ready

Waiting for your whispers

Praying to be happy

I reject this life

I’m hungry for elevation!

I hold that knife

I wait for your invitation

Come home … child!

October 25, 2009
U2 360 Tour
The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, CA

Bono – you’ve made some mistakes, but all is forgiven.

U2 – with The 360 Tour, you reminded us why you’re #1 (you were facing some competition there for a while).

The Claw: this is what $750,000/day buys you

Some amazing new music has been released and several extraordinary live shows have been experienced this year.  I questioned whether U2’s “Claw” was worth a $750,000 per day operations budget (the cost, regardless of if the band is playing a show or has a day off) and 200 trucks to transport it. I was so conflicted about this show (the band’s largest ever)  in particular that I wrote about it in advance of the event (see: The Pilgrimage of U2).

When I go to a U2 show, I go to see U2. I don’t need the spectacle. I’m not disappointed if they conserve some electricity, tone down the light show and just play their songs. One of my favorite U2 concerts was shortly following 9-11, when U2 performed without an elaborate stage set-up. The set was simple, just a few screens that displayed the names of 9-11 victims in memoriam. That show moved most of the audience to tears.  A band like U2 doesn’t need to go above and beyond with their production.  In fact, they’re often criticized when they do.

Until last week, I didn’t care one way or another about the elaborate stage set-up for U2’s 360 Tour.  I would have gone to the show without the big production.  However, I did consider that U2 could save money and the environment if “The Claw” truly didn’t add much to the experience and, therefore, ceased to be part of the show. At the same time, I was happy to hear that 333 people are employed to assemble the stage during this tour. If nothing else, U2’s 360 Tour is  stimulating jobs.

Astronomy lessons with U2

Although I didn’t recognize it at the time, it was only fitting that this weekend began with an Astronomy lesson on the streets of Pasadena.  In addition to celebrating the largest U2 concert of all time, Pasadena was paying homage to Galileo and the 400 year anniversary of  the telescope.  As we were walking to dinner Saturday night, 4 Astrophysics PhD students stopped us and asked if we’d like to “see Jupiter’s moons.”  “How much does that cost?” we asked.  After they assured us it was free, we took turns peering through the large telescope the students had set up at a busy intersection of Downtown Pasadena.  It was a magnificent sight, if you really thought about what you were witnessing (and we did).  With the assistance of the powerful telescope, one could clearly see Jupiter and four of its moons in perfect alignment.  This sparked numerous questions which the graduate students were kind enough to answer during an impromptu astronomy lesson on the street corner.  We discussed galaxies, the universe, and the recent blasting of the moon in great detail. Later, when we sat down to dinner, we noticed an informational film about Astronomy was playing on the large movie screen in the main courtyard, outside the restaurant.  This was either a lucky coincidence or a masterfully planned stunt by U2 as they descended upon Pasadena in their spaceship (aka “The Claw”).

A space creature introduces "Ultraviolet"

The show was entirely “space” themed, with Bono often referring to the stage as a spaceship.  In fact, it did feel as if we were traveling through the universe (see video footage below).  Bowie’s “Space Oddity” filled the stadium just prior to U2’s entrance.  The Claw lit up; bridges and arms of the stage spun around; light shot into the sky from all directions, intersecting above the needle of the “spaceship.”  We were greeted by an alien who introduced “Ultraviolet (Light My Way).”  We viewed images of the Earth from above as we shot further through space. The last verse of “In A Little While” was spoken by an astronaut in the International Space Station.  Bono replaced the line “you turn me on” with “space travel turns me on” during the same song.

The Claw as Space Station

“Are you ready for lift off?” Bono asked the crowd just prior to launching into “Elevation.”  Bono himself seemed to defy gravity as he drifted above the stage, swinging from a large illuminated microphone, during “Ultraviolet (Light My Way).” U2 and nearly 100,000 fans visually “created a galaxy” at The Rose Bowl during “Moment of Surrender.”

A Pasadena yogurt shop welcomes U2 fans

The “360″ in U2’s 360 Tour seems to refer to more than just the stage set up.  The experience itself surrounds you from every angle.  Preparation for last night’s show included arriving in Pasadena early (in some cases, days early) to avoid traffic and secure parking and transportation.  A Pasadena frozen yogurt shop welcomed the band and fans with “U2 Vanilla Bean” ice cream. It became the focus of local news media, as if all of Los Angeles truly were boarding a spaceship and shooting into space.  Not only did U2 take over The Rose Bowl, Pasadena, and YouTube (the concert was broadcast globally via live stream), they managed to capture three of Twitter’s Trending Topic positions throughout the show.

The live stream of the concert on YouTube effectively allowed U2 to cover the globe from all angles.  Rocco, one of the 333 people responsible for assembling The Claw each night, kicked off the evening with a statement that summarized the magnitude of this event: “This time, when you raise your voices, you won’t only be heard here, but all around the world.”  He further elaborated, “Tonight’s show is the biggest global concert ever.”  In that vein, historically, U2’s show at The Rose Bowl might rank among one of the most spectacular live events.

The voices of the audience quickly overtook Bono’s voice as the band played “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For,” until Bono held the mic behind his back and turned the vocals over to the crowd.  The amplification of nearly 100,000 voices singing the chorus in unison made it sound as if perhaps Bono was still on the microphone.  I’ve witnessed plenty of audience sing-a-longs at U2 concerts, but this one was the most phenomenal. Watch the video here (more after the jump):

The entire audience waved their hands in the sky, from left to right during “Mysterious Ways.”  Moments like these illustrated that the visual spectacle at U2’s 360 Tour is not solely a result of The Claw.  As with the thousands of voices singing “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For” in unison, seeing tens of thousands of people waving their hands in the air was magnificent as well.  Watch below  (more after the jump):

The Edge strummed his acoustic guitar during a stripped down version of “Stuck In A Moment” and Bono’s voice sounded phenomenal and better than ever throughout the 2 hour 20 minute concert. Larry Mullen, Jr. added more soul and fire to “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight,” banging passionately on a bongo drum.  Adam Clayton’s bass line also sounded more pronounced in this energetic live version of the song. And that’s just the music – which is what I thought I came for. . .

When I first saw The Claw, just prior to The Black Eyed Peas opening set, I wasn’t all that impressed.  At 164 feet tall, the sheer size of The Claw could not be ignored.  The massive racks of speakers suspended around the top of the contraption were also worth paying attention to.  But other than that, illuminated by the stadium lights, The Claw just looked like an over-sized mechanical hand that picks up stuffed animals in an arcade game.

The Claw, powered up

Considering the cost of The Claw (both environmentally and financially), I’d come to expect that it would actually pick us up and transport us through space.  With the help of spectacular visual effects and lighting, a cylindrical screen that moved vertically throughout the show, the light of the moon shining over the stadium, and the audience’s incessant jumping during “Elevation,” it felt as though we indeed did launch a spaceship.

Blast off

It was visually overstimulating as smoke shot up from the set, beams of light shone hundreds of feet into the sky, the needle of the spaceship illuminated and morphed into various colors, lights flashed throughout the stadium seating, and the arms (or fingers) of The Claw itself lit up.

Images are projected 360 degrees

At the same time, the screen moved up and down during the songs.  In its simplest form, we were able to follow footage of the band playing on screen.  Animated characters and pulsing light shows were also projected on screen.  “Reality” became blurred as live video of the band was inter-cut with canned footage of the band and then layered with visual effects.  Check out the use of the screen during “I’ll Go Crazy If I Don’t Go Crazy Tonight” (more after the jump):

The visual impact of “City of Blinding Lights” was also extraordinary and helped further bring the spaceship experience to life (more after the jump):

As the band began playing “Moment of Surrender,” Bono suggested that fans raise their cell phones into the sky.  The majority of lights dimmed, while the glow of mobile phones and flickering blue and white lights pulsed throughout the stadium so that it looked like we were surrounded by a mass of stars.  As Bono promised, the effect of this coordinated effort was the creation of a virtual galaxy.  Watch the transition here (more after the jump)

While introducing “Moment of Surrender” (at 6:41) Bono instructs the crowd to raise their cell phones into the sky and “create the Milky Way”:

The virtual galaxy continues to unfold throughout “Moment of Surrender”

Halfway through the show, the man standing to my left leaned over and said, “I think the stage is worth it.”  I’d have to agree.

"Radio Tehran, can you hear us?"

As is the case with most U2 shows, messages of peace, empowerment, social movements, and positive change were highlighted.  “Sunday Bloody Sunday” was dedicated to Iran, “Walk On” was performed in honor of Aung San Suu Kyi, and video of Archbishop Desmond Tutu stating, “God will put a wind at our back and a rising road ahead, if we work together as one, ” served as the introduction to “One.” Bono also thanked fans for supporting (RED) and ONE.

“Don’t leave us now.  We hope this is not the end,” Bono said just before the band walked off stage for the evening.  Well, much to the dismay of thousands of people, they couldn’t leave even if they tried.  As could be expected, there was one more light show to be had – the lights of brakes on cars formed a steady, line leading to the nearest exits.  For those of us on foot, getting out of the Rose Bowl was was much more expedient, although as somebody exclaimed while climbing through a chain-linked fence, “this is like a human maze.”  We passed cars rapidly and followed the line of traffic up the hill.  In an attempt to take a short-cut, dozens of people then scaled a steep, grassy hill that was full of mole holes, climbed through two chain-linked fences, only to find themselves on the edge of a freeway.  People darted across the freeway exit, and then raced across the freeway entrance to the safety of a path that lead directly to Colorado Boulevard.  The final challenge was dodging rotating sprinklers while walking on the last stretch of sidewalk leading to Colorado Blvd. Of course, there’s always that one guy who has to get in the sprinklers.  Just as the adventure of this event began before the concert itself, the experience of U2’s 360 Tour did not end when the band walked off the stage.  To further punctuate that sentiment, within minutes of walking out of the stadium 2 emails arrived via my Blackberry – one from Live Nation and one from U2.  The message of each was the same: U2’s 360 Tour will continue into 2010, with more North American dates added next summer.

At the band's request. . .

U2 – that show was impressive, one of the most spectacular events I’ve attended.  Individually and collectively you have done a lot of good in the world.  You’ve personally impacted the lives of millions and have empowered individuals with information and tools to make contributions to the greater good as well.  The results of your dedication and commitments to the world include helping people enjoy a longer life, providing clean water, food, and medication.  All of that is fantastic and nobody expects you to “do it all” or single handedly “save the world,” but one can only image that your carbon footprint from this tour is more massive than The Claw itself.  If you’re not already doing so, please consider taking additional steps or making a financial contribution to offset the carbon footprint of your 360 Tour.  If you are already doing so, please have your publicist let the world know because it’s not being recognized by the media nor your fans.

Important message from the space creature who introduced “Ultraviolet (Light My Way)”

I had the opportunity to visit a church in St. Paul, MN yesterday while I am here for seminary! We walked in for the 11:00 service and no one spoke to us, showed us where to go, or even acknowledged we were there. The sermon was very good and applicable and I am sure the pastor is a great man of God but he was no Pastor Steven Furtick and it was definitely not Elevation Church!

However, I did get something out of the sermon and felt like I had met with Jesus…

It did not make me miss my church or my pastor any less! I am blessed to serve and be part of the greatest church in the world where Pastor has taught us to eat the fish and leave the bones, to be generous, and to be a church full of people who honor anyone who walks through the doors of our church!

As Pastor Appreciation Month comes to a close I wanted to take a minute and thank my Pastor and our amazing staff! So if you don’t want to hear how awesome Pastor Steven is and how awesome our staff is you should stop reading here…

Pastor Steven, thank you for leading us to be a place where anyone feels welcome and can hear from the Lord, but more importantly thank you for investing in me both through my volunteer roles and from the stage. You challenge me to the core to follow hard after Jesus at all costs and to pursue the vision God has given me! Thank you for all the potential you have called out of me throughout my time at Elevation. You have always made me feel like I can accomplish great things for God and because of that encouragement I am taking the steps to reach my vision! Words can not express how thankful I am to be part of the move of God we call Elevation! Pastor, I am with you heart and soul!

Elevation Staff, thank you for pouring into me as a volunteer and teaching me more than just the culture of our church but how to take that apply it to my life and live in a way that is honoring to Jesus in my everyday circumstances. Your investment in me has equipped me to follow my dreams and take the hard steps of obedience. It is an honor to serve alongside each of you at Elevation! Thank you for the sacrifices you have made that no one may ever see to see the vision of our church brought to fruition. We are watching God change a city and I’m so thankful for each of you!

I love my church, I love what we stand for, I love the reason we exist, and I love more importantly that I get to be a part of this mighty move of God!

I am looking forward to getting home in a couple of weeks and being back among ya’ll but until them I am standing with you Pastor Steven and Elevation Church! What God is doing is even being discussed up here!

What an awesome thing to be a part of last night. The  global concert of U2 shown on Youtube and in conversation with Twitter.  This is just another way to showcase what technology can do and how we can leverage that technology to reach the world.  May we someday be able to do the same as U2 has done with this concert as we share with the world the gospel of Jesus Christ.  By the way U2 rocked the house.

By the way notice the choice of song?  Can you say Elevation!  I thought you could.

… these days not many build their homes and their faith is visible in their constructions. But the older lot didn’t believe so, many showed their religious faiths in their “Then” newly built homes.

One such home near Sri Parthasarathi Temple, Triplicane.

You know when its been a long day when you almost put Wheat Elevation instead of West Elevation (You know, Never Eat Shredded Wheat ~ North East South West?). Well, that was my Friday afternoon. I was trying to resist the urge to fall asleep at my desk at about 4pm as the boss had already left for the day, but instead I made a coffee and turned the radio up louder.

I also found myself Beat boxing and whistling along to the music when my boss popped out during the day on her site visits and meetings, getting 15-20 seconds in to it, suddenly stopping thinking HEY?! Why am I beat-boxing?!?

Well, finally the weekend is here, and I am looking forward to it. Nothing actually planned this weekend! Hopefully a weekend of catching up on reading, doing some drawing, and maybe some Computer Gaming

Seth
Signing out

PS. Here is my Work Place (I hope the text is readable):

In case you missed the “Many Faces of Mr. Potato Head” bumper video for our new series yesterday morning at Elevation, or in case you just want to watch it again to get another laugh, you can view it on our website.