July 23, 2008
It’s been a crazy summer.
I’m sure I overuse that phrase a ton, but I’m not sure how else to categorize it. The summer hasn’t been easy, but it hasn’t been bad either…it’s just, crazy.
This fall Stuck in the Middle will kick off its first multi-city event tour, and the work involved in making that a reality is really eating my lunch right now. In the past I’ve relied heavily on Jill to help me pick up the slack with Stuck, but she’s got a new job that is limiting her ability to help somewhat. That being said, her new job is AMAZING and I wouldn’t trade that opportunity for her for anything in the world. She is working for Faraday Studios helping produce the Young Scientist Challenge for the Discovery Channel. As I type this, she is in Washington DC meeting with people from the Discovery Channel and NASA. They’re also working with a super cool west coast production company (that I’m not allowed to talk about yet) in order to make the whole thing into a killer TV show. Like I said, AWESOME job!
Obviously things have been super busy around here, and I’m wondering if I really have time to do the whole “blog” thing right now. Still, I love the community that comes from being able to share with my friends about what is happening in my life…but it is a tiny bit creepy to post that on an open forum for anyone to read.
So, for now at least, expect scattered and shallow posting. We’ll see where things land over the next few months as to whether or not I keep this thing going.
June 20, 2008
Hey Everyone, this will only take a second, and could make a huge difference in the lives of some good friends of mine.
Josh Weaver Band is the group that led worship at Stuck in March and is going to be leading on our “Story” tour this coming year. They’re an awesome group with a ton of talent and an even bigger passion to reach students with the message of Christ. They’re in this national radio “battle of the bands” type competition and are currently battling it out for first place. With only 2 more days of voting left, you have a chance to help them win the competition, get national recognition for their band and send them on a trip to GMA of the Rockies to meet with record labels and industry professionals with the chance of a record deal!
It only takes a second to help…Just click here at http://totalaxxess.com and then on the Rock What You Got link to the right of the page and vote for the Josh Weaver Band song Never Ever Ending. It is important that you try and vote 3 times each night and then again during the next day – with the voting so close, it could really make the difference.
If you have a blog and would be willing, ask your readers to show some love for them. The competition has been really tight the past two days. So, throw it out there on your facebook, myspace and email and show some love!
Thanks!
-Sean
June 5, 2008
Ok…so here’s the deal. I have a Motorola Q phone right now, and I like it OK. I use google to manage my stuckinthemiddle.com email accounts, so everything that I do email wise is through gmail. I am accessing my email currently through the web browser on my Q, but would like to switch it over and figure out how to get “push” email through my phone. I also use google calendar right now to manage my appointments, but would be willing to switch over to any program that can sync with my laptop and my phone.
So here’s my question…does anyone out there have a solid recommendation for a phone that can do push email (with gmail) and has a calendar that I can sync with my laptop and phone? I’ve looked into Blackberry phones, but I’m just not sold yet.
Or better yet, does anyone know how to set this up on the Q? I’ve tried to recruit help from the Sprint store with no luck, and I haven’t been able to get it working right on my own either.
June 2, 2008
I received this email from Pastor Berlin’s wife earlier this week. Please read through to the bottom of the email, which tells you how you can support him through a letter writing campaign that is designed to put pressure on the government for his safe release. I strongly encourage you to do so for the sake of this brother who has been unjustly imprisoned and tortured for his faith.
-Sean
Dear Brother and Sister in Christ,
Please include in your prayers my husband and our family’s appeal to the Supreme Court for the issuance of resolution. Its been one year since he abducted in front of us last May 27,2008.
Below you will find Pastor Berlin’s statement and our letter campaign for the the court to give attention on Pastor Berlin’s case. Thank you so much and may the Lord continue to bless you and your family.
In Christ,
Mylene Guerrero
wife of Pastor Berlin
One Year of Deprivation, One Year of Service
It has been said that no one truly knows
a nation until one has been inside its jails.
A nation should not be judged by how it treats
Its highest citizens, but its lowest ones
Nelson Mandela, Long Walk to Freedom
It has been exactly one year since I was thrown in prison- a year stolen from me and my family and friends by a heartless callous regime who claims to have protected the basic human rights of its citizens and blatantly lies to the face of the international community that its human rights record is clean and satisfactory.
One year ago, operatives of the Naval Intelligence Security Force (NISF) snatched me away from my family. Terror and shock was written on their faces and of those who witnessed the late afternoon abduction. No warrants were presented by the men in plainclothes. I was handcuffed, blindfolded and subjected to physical and mental torture for more than twelve hours. Finding nothing to convict me of any crime, they turned me over to the Cavite Philippine National Police (PNP) at its headquarters in Imus, Cavite. The Police tried to cover up the abduction by saying the arrest was legal and presented two old warrants of arrest – one was for inciting to sedition and the other for murder. The first one was served to me in 1991 and have posted bail for my freedom. The case did not prosper and there was no court litigation. The arrest warrant for murder issued in 1992 arose from the killing of a union leader in 1990 where I had nothing to do about. It was the PC-INP Investigator who linked me to the case by showing a marked photograph to the alleged lone witness. The RTC Judge who issued the warrant did not personally investigate the witness nor conduct a preliminary investigation. Since I did not receive any sub-poena, I was not given a chance to answer the charges.
I stand pat on the belief that the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration is responsible for my abduction, torture and incarceration through its so-called anti-terrorism program now implemented under the Human Security Act of 2007. My case is clearly a counter-insurgency operation which, like any other operation conducted by military elements, have grossly violated my rights as a citizen. And now I ask what has the GMA government done to those who have unlawfully arrested me, tortured me, and caused my family and friends to suffer?
The recent abduction, torture and four-day involuntary detention of my co-worker UCCP Pastor Rodel Canja, which I vehemently denounce, only proves how stone-hearted the Arroyo Government until now. It has never abandoned its unjust annihilative war against its own people. Its rhetoric of peace and peace talks serve only to mask its beastly character.
A year of prison life has taught me valuable lessons.
I experienced the dismal subhuman condition and of government neglect of jails and detention centers and the deliberately sluggish, almost lazy litigation of court cases.
I listened to numerous inmate testimonies of police brutality
and the use of torture to force arrested persons to admit
crimes they may or may not have committed.
I heard how commonplace the stories about some judges
and government prosecutors being bought and bribed to
favor moneyed and powerful parties.
All these point out to the unfair justice system and the oppressive prison institutions which are all anti-poor and repressive of the people’s dissent and disgust of the prevailing social order.
While I wait for the Supreme Court decision on my petition for freedom, I continue to know what languishing in jail means. And as I suffer the consequences of professing my Christian faith I will continue to serve the people especially those who suffer with me in jail because of the “evil” in power.
Pastor Berlin Guerrero
Cavite Provincial Jail
Trece Martirez City
Cavite, Philippines
P..s
Below is our letter writting campaign… please help us!
Free Berlin Movement
Letter Writing Campaign
As is has already been one-year that Pastor Berlin V. Guerrero has been in prison, we enjoin you to add your voice to the many who are praying for his release. After careful consideration, we are appealing for you to write letters to two places—the Supreme Court where a motion for Pastor Berlin’s release has been pending since August, 2007 and to the Solicitor General who is opposing Pastor Berlin’s release. We are also asking that you send a copy of your appeal letters to the family of Pastor Berlin Guerrero both to boost their moral and so that we are able to update you any future actions of news on the case of Pastor Berlin. We have highlighted in the sample letter form the number of weeks Pastor of Berlin is detained. Our target is to organize our local churches, ecumenical and international partners and solidarity links to send at least one letter per week as a sustained reminder of the broad support for Pastor Berlin and his family.
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Please send the following letter to the Supreme Court Justices individually at the Supreme Court of the Philippines, Padre Faura Street corner Taft Avenue, Ermita 1000, Manila. Send a copy of the letter to Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno to Pastor Berlin V. Guerrero Family c/o UCCP North-East Southern Tagalog Conference, 9 Kanluran Road, Los Banos, Los Banos, Laguna.
Hon Reynato S. Puno, Chief of Justice
Hon. Arturo Brion, Associate Justice
Hon. Ruben T. Reyes, Associate Justice
Hon. Antonio Nachura, Associate Justice
Hon. Leonardo A. Quisumbing, Associate Justice
Hon. Consuelo Ynares-Santiago, Associate Justice
Hon. Angelina Sandoval-Gutierrez, Associate Justice
Hon. Antonio T. Carpio, Associate Justice
Hon. Ma. Alicia Austria-Martinez, Associate Justice
Hon. Renato C. Corona, Associate Justice
Hon. Conchita Carpio-Morales, Associate Justice
Hon. Romeo J. Callejo, Sr. Associate Justice
Hon. Adolfo S. Azcuna, Associate Justice
Hon. Dante O. Tinga, Associate Justice
Hon. Minita Chico-Nazario, Associate Justice
Hon. Cancio C. Garcia, Associate Justice
Hon. Teresita De Castro, Associate Justice
To the Honorable Justices of the Supreme Court of the Philippines:
On May 27, 2007 Pastor Berlin V. Guerrero was abducted in front of his wife and children as they traveled home from the local church where he was pastor in Malaban, Binan, Laguna. After heavy torture and interrogation completely unrelated to the charge against him, Pastor Berlin has now spent 48 weeks in prison on a trumped-up charge of murder.
We appeal for a speedy resolution of the case of Pastor Berlin Guerrero. We know that Pastor Berlin continues his pastoral ministry within the Cavite Provincial Jail, and we are certain that he is detained for political rather than criminal reasons. We urge you to prioritize this case as testament to the pursuit of justice and democracy in the Philippines.
Pastor Berlin V.. Guerrero is one amongst many Filipinos who have been abducted, tortured, disappeared and killed under the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo Administration. We enjoin your efforts to bring justice to the many victims of Human Rights Violations. Our prayers are with you as you are challenged to address these injustices. We join this appeal for a speedy resolution of the case of Pastor Berlin as we also join in the efforts to bring peace based on justice to the Filipino people.
Sincerely yours,
(Your name)
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And the following Letter to the Solicitor General:
Hon. Agnes VST Devanadera
Solicitor General, Republic of the Philippines
134 Amorsolo St. Legaspi Village, Makati City
Dear Hon. Agnes VST Devanadera:
We appeal for your support for the speedy resolution of the case of Pastor Berlin V. Guerrero, now pending with the Supreme Court. We are certain that Pastor Berlin has had nothing to do with the murder of which he has been accused. As a servant of the people of the Philippines, we appeal to your better wisdom toward justice for you to allow the release Pastor Berlin Guerrero who has already been detained for more than 48 weeks. The release of Pastor Berlin will be step toward peace and democracy in the Philippines.
Sincerely yours,
(Your name)
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Thank you for your support and participation.
May 28, 2008
May 13, 2008
Last week was possibly the only time I’ve actually been excited to watch American Idol. Don’t get me wrong, I love watching Simon consistently be the voice of reason on the show (is there anybody else out there who feels like he says exactly what you’re thinking 99% of the time? No…just me? Scary…) Typically I can’t stand the options that they give the contestants to pick their songs from, but last week was different…last week they had the rock and roll hall of fame! My mind started racing to think of all the great songs that they could pull out for the show. If they can turn crap like “Always Be My Baby” into a pretty decent song, then just think what they can do with this!
Unfortunately, I was about as bummed out as I could be. The songs they chose were about as lame, tame and boring as they could be. Even rocker David Cook was completely forgettable. I don’t know what happened, but my mind has been thinking this past week about “what might have been”.
Here are the songs from the rock and roll hall of fame that I would have picked for the contestants (in order with my favorites first). Let me know how right or wrong you think I am in the comments below…come on…I dare you!
David Archuleta
The Police- Message In A Bottle (John Mayer version)
Elton John- Tiny Dancer
John Mellancamp- Small Town
Syesha Mercado
REM- Losing My Religion (similar to what Ryan Star did on Rock Star: Supernova)
Prince – When Doves Cry (Quindon Tarver version from Romeo and Juliet soundtrack)
Janis Joplin- Piece of my heart (Melissa Etheridge version)
David Cook
U2- Pride (In the Name of Love)
The Rolling Stones- Paint it Black (Gob version)
AC/DC- You Shook me All Night Long
Michael Jackson- Thriller (I’ve got an arrangement in my head that I think would be awesome…now if I just had an inch of talent to actually get it out of my head!)
Jason Castro
Tom Petty- Free Fallin’ (you can’t tell me he wouldn’t have brought the house down with this!)
Fleetwood Mac- Landslide (similar to the version Billy Corgan did on Pisces Iscariot)
James Taylor- Fire and Rain
Ok, so that’s two posts in a row about a show I don’t really care about. Time to move along! I’m working on some thoughts from the recent Jr. High Summit I attended in Chicago. I’ve also got some stuff from my recent trips to California and Florida to promote our upcoming events there. Of course, I could just blog about Hannah Montana or Lindsey Lohan and watch my traffic skyrocket…but I think not!
May 10, 2008
Yesterday we drove up to Blue Springs Missouri so that Jill could go to a mother’s day banquet with her mom and sisters. She took Maddy and Bella with her, so Aiden and I hung out together for the afternoon and evening. We heard that David Cook from American Idol was in town for a parade and mini-concert (Blue Springs is his home town), so we shot over to the high school to see what was going on. There were tons of people there (over 10,000), but somehow we ended up in the backstage area where all the “important” people were coming in and out. We sat on the corner of a sidewalk and watched David sing “Always Be My Baby”, “There Goes My Hero” and “Living on a Prayer”.
After the mini-concert, Aiden and I got to “meet” David and he walked by with his entourage. He was cool, but was in a big hurry to get to his Ford Expedition limo.
As we were walking past his limo to leave, we heard a commotion on the other side and walked over to see what was going on. David had his head (and most of his upper body) sticking out of the limo window, and he was being mobbed by the Kansas City Chief’s cheerleaders. The cheerleaders were giddy to meet David, and he was laughing and saying to the few of us standing around “Yeah, it’s tough to be an American Idol…this is hard work!” The cheerleaders were posing for pictures with David and one of them motioned for Aiden to come get in the picture with them, but he was frozen. I tried to encourage him to go up, but he didn’t want anything to do with it. All he really wanted to do was invite David to go see Iron Man with us. So, I went ahead and took the picture, then I added Aiden in with Photoshop. So here’s what it might have looked like…
But here’s the closest Aiden would actually get…
Anyway, we had a great “boy’s night out” together. We went and saw Iron Man together (loved it just as much the 2nd time!), then we went to Burger King for dinner. A fun night out for the Meade boys!
Oh, and here’s a picture of Aiden getting his hair cut by Adam Sandler as “Zohan”…Aiden asked me to take it and put it on my blog!
May 6, 2008
Jill and I went with my brother Brian and my sister in-law Melissa to see a sneak preview of Iron Man last week. They scored us some balcony tickets, which is always a cool treat too! I went into the movie with a basic understanding of who Iron Man is, though I was never really into the comics. What really got me stoked about this movie was that Jon Favreau was directing it (the guy is awesome…he wrote and starred in Swingers and he directed Elf), Robert Downey Jr. was starring in it, and Terrence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow were in the supporting cast. That’s a pretty serious line-up for a comic book movie…and having Downey Jr. adds some real gravitas to the flick.
So, what did I think? In the words of comic book guy from The Simpson’s…”Best comic book movie ever!”
From the beginning this is a movie that was done right. I already mentioned the amazing director and cast, but you also have to realize that this movie represents an industry first. This is the first time that a comic’s publisher is making their own comic book movie. Before, the publisher had major say in what was happening, but ultimately it was a studio picture. This movie is different. Sure, the studio (Paramount) is selling the movie, but this is 100% Marvel Comic’s baby. Marvel ponied up major amounts of money to mke this movie and the upcoming Incredible Hulk movie, so they have a lot riding on them being a success.
Because they did it on their own, they were able to dance around several of the shortcomings of recent comic book movies. No overly cheesy dialogue, no stupid jokes that come out of character and out of synch with the rest of the story. The development and the pacing of the story feels right on (although some thought it was a bit slow in the “becoming Iron Man” part, I thought it was perfect). Another cool thing about this movie (as opposed to Spiderman, X-Men, etc.) is that it takes place in the Marvel Comics universe. There are references to The Mandarin and the 10 rings organization, there’s a hilarious one-liner reference to War Machine that generated a huge response from the theatre I was in, SHIELD is there, and so is a certain “person” who pops up and sets the stage for some amazing things to come in the future. Here’s a hint: Stay until the end of the credits. I’ve also heard that Downey Jr. will make a cameo appearance as Tony Stark in the upcoming Hulk movie, blazing the trail for an Avengers movie (scheduled for 2010).
Combine all of this with the fact that Iron Man’s tech is about as cool as it gets, and you’ve got one awesome movie. The summer is officially here…and I’m realizing more than ever what a big geek I am. Oh well, at least for Jill’s sake I wasn’t the guy dressed as Iron (tin foil) Man or Cardboard Monger…it could always be worse right?
April 30, 2008
Finally made it to Chicago and have had an amazing time at the Jr. High Ministry Summit this year. The summit is a gathering of 20-some jr. high only youth workers from all over the country (including one canadian!). We get together once a year to discuss and dream about various aspects of ministry to young teens. This is my third year of meeting with the group, and they have become like family to me. We have a great sense of community (and belonging!), and it’s always a time for us to really live, laugh and love together.
This year author and sociologist Christian Smith met with us and challenged our thinking in a few different areas. A lot of it is swirling around in my head, and I need some time to process through it. Over the next week or so I will post my thoughts on much of what we discussed, and I will link to our notes once they have gone live.
April 26, 2008
The good news: I made it to the airport early enough to get that exit row seat I wanted.
The bad news: I’m sitting in the airplane right now, waiting on the runway while we continue to be delayed over and over again. It seems that there’s too much wind in Chicago (imagine that), and incoming flights are getting delayed and cancelled. We started out with a 5:55 PM flight, which was then delayed until 6:20. They loaded us on the plane at 6:20, then we sat at the gate until about 6:50. At that time we taxied out on the runway, where we have been ever since. It’s now almost 7:30, and they expect us to take off sometime around 8PM.
The worst thing is, about 1/3 of the people on this flight went through the exact same thing last night…before their flight was ultimately cancelled and they had to go get hotel rooms for the night. American Airlines called it an “Act of God” and didn’t comp any hotels or food. Fun stuff!
Here’s to hoping that I get out of here tonight. Until then, in a sick way this is kind of funny. People on here are really ticked off, which makes this flight something of a social experiment (kind of like “Beauty and the Geek”, except without the beauties and with a lot of older people and screaming babies!).
