andrew dodson

“It’s an honor just to be nominated.”

I received an email this morning through my Flickr account.  Schmap is possibly going to use one of my photos from my trip to Minneapolis for a travel guide.  Ironically, it’s a photo that I took of the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant, while I was there for a Desiring God conference.  I won’t get any money to allow them to use the photo, but it’s nice to know they might use it.  I’m no Kari McGrath, but photography is definitely a small hobby of mine.  The photo is below:

With several JMB concerts coming up, I’ve been working on a good drumset setup that can get me through the next several gigs. Sometimes, I’m not sure of the environment, so I don’t know if I can get away with real drums, or if I need to bring my electronic drums. Last Saturday, I was a little disappointed to find out I probably could’ve gotten away with real drums at an outdoor pavilion. So, I’ve put together the best of both worlds.

Since getting my electronic drums, I’ve only had a couple of complaints with my Yamaha kit. Mainly, sound people usually want more control over my bass drum. Personally, I’ve never been satisfied with the sensitivity and response of the hi-hats. I’ve added a real bass drum and set of hi-hats to the kit. The percussionist in me misses things like a tambourine and the ability to do cymbal rolls like I can on an acoustic set. I’ve added a real tambourine next to the hi-hats, and a real cymbal for rolls.

This has also freed up a couple of inputs on my drum module. I am going to spend some time going through more percussion sounds and possibly add a hand drum sound, shaker, or who knows what. I’ve already been able to assign one of the pads to a rim knock sound until my new three-zone snare pad arrives later this week. The main thing is that I’m not using the module to its full capability, since it has thousands of sounds. I’m also trying to get away with not having to upgrade to a more expensive electronic drum set to get more features.

I spent time at The Point last night setting up the new hybrid set and playing on it. I’m pretty happy with it so far. Looking forward to using it the next few weeks at gigs and on Sunday mornings. Here’s some pictures (via camera phone):

A couple of football bits…

• Kentucky’s football team has, arguably, one of the toughest schedules in the nation this year.  Pre-season rankings showed that half of the Cats’ slate this year were Top 25 teams.  Most have them pegged to finish 6-6.  After one of their best seasons in a long while, and with a solid group of returning players, it’s somewhat disappointing to see such a tough schedule.  Welcome to life in the SEC.  But, after two weeks of play, that schedule isn’t looking so tough anymore.  The latest polls show South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee rounding out the bottom of the Top 25.  Seems to me, all three those games could go either way – hopefully in the Cats’ favor.  I’m still sticking to my guns that it is not unrealistic to see UK sitting at 6-0 going into the LSU game.  A tough Louisville game and South Carolina sit in front of LSU.  After seeing Louisville’s defense fail to show up against Middle Tennessee, I’m thinking UK has a very real shot of winning.  As mentioned, the South Carolina game could go either way.  If UK can beat U of L, there’s no reason they can’t beat the Gamecocks.  I’m predicting another 8-4 season for the Cats.
• With the Reds’ season coming to a disappointing close in the next couple of weeks, I’ve officially turned my attention to the Bengals.  They open their season tonight on Monday Night Football  against the Ravens.  Can enough of the Bengals stay out of jail this year to get the Bengals to the playoffs?  I predict an 11-5 record for Cincy this year.  Yes, it seems optimistic, but they have a fairly easy schedule, aside from early games (losses) to the Patriots and Seahawks.  Beating the Ravens twice will be tough, but doable.  They’ll split with Pittsburgh, and depending on the development of St. Louis and San Francisco throughout the season, those games could go either way.  There’s no reason for the Bengals to not win the division.

Powered by ScribeFire.

Tomorrow is the fifth anniversary of one of our nation’s worst tragedies.  These types of things always beg the question, “Where were you when it happened?”

I was a senior at Georgetown College.  I had a pretty cool schedule that semester – no classes before 11 a.m.  Sleeping in was an every day thing for me.  On this particular day, I woke up to the sound of sirens.  I could hear my dorm neighbor in the hallway talking to someone.  They were talking about something crashing into a building.  Since I heard sirens, I thought maybe someone had crashed their vehicle into one of the buildings on campus.  I happened to turn on the TV and quickly found out what had actually happened.

By the time I found out, both buildings had already been hit, and one had already collapsed.  Shock and amazement set in when I saw people hanging out of and jumping from windows.  Seeing the second building collapse and knowing there were still people inside was unbelievable.  It was hard to realize this wasn’t Hollywood.  We watch movies with death and destruction and almost think it’s “cool” because we know it isn’t real.  This was quite real.

Georgetown canceled classes that day.  There was a prayer service held in the chapel that afternoon, but I didn’t attend.  I had not yet become a Christian, so any thoughts of God, or how He could let something like this happen, were far from my thoughts.  I ended up going to Lexington that afternoon.  I was taking piano lessons at the time and needed to pick up a book that my instructor told me to get.  It was surreal to drive into Lexington and not see planes flying overhead, coming into and leaving from Bluegrass Airport.

If you’re interested in leaving your story, feel free to post a comment.

I went over to Asbury last night to catch the Pages Tour with Shane & Shane and Bebo Norman.  It was the second time I’ve seen each of them.  To see some pictures of the show, click on the Flickr badge to the right.

Apple has just announced the release of the new iPod Touch.  Way cool.  I already have the 80GB iPod, and that’s enough for my music collection.  But, as I blogged about previously, I’ve been putting more videos on my computer.  I can’t put all of the videos on my iPod, so I’ve been considering an iPod for videos only.  Sort of iPod overkill, so I’m not sure how likely it is that I’ll do this.  But, the new iPod Touch has a bigger screen, which makes it more suitable for videos (same size screen as the iPhone).  Hmm…

Fall is here and the Josh Martin Band has several concerts coming up.  We took most of the summer off.  Derek and Bert were busy with Crossings, so it seemed like a good time to lay low and take it easy.  We did play a concert on July 1st at Leesburg, but other than that, we haven’t seen much of each other.  Starting Saturday, we’ll be back into the swing of things.  Here’s a list of our upcoming concerts:

Sept. 8 | New Castle, KY | Harry Hill Park | 6:00 p.m.
Sept. 16 | Eminence, KY | Smithfield Baptist Church | 5:00 p.m.
Sept. 22 | Nineveh, IN | Nineveh Chrisitan Church | TBA

Oct. 7 | Lexington KY | The Masters Church | 6:00 p.m.

Nov. 3 | Lexington, KY | Boone’s Creek Baptist Church Conference | TBA
Nov. 30 | Crestwood, KY | Centerfield Church | Cowboy Church 8:00 p.m.

Dec. 1 | Brandenburg, KY | Glad Tidings Church | Cowboy Church | 7:00 p.m.

Our DVD is nearing completion and should be ready very, very soon.  We’re also going to release the audio as a regular CD.  Next up, we’ll be working on some new material in preparation for our next studio recording.  Nothing set in stone just yet, but I would suspect we might start recording later this year or early next year.

Powered by ScribeFire.

I thought this was pretty clever…. if you’ve got five minutes to spare, give it a look.

I’m a theology nerd and it’s all Josh Martin’s fault.  During a trip to Indiana a couple of years ago, Josh introduced me to reformed theology and I haven’t been the same since.  After that trip, I started digging into the Bible and trying to see how crazy Josh was for agreeing with reformed theology.  Best I could tell, and to this day, I see it as an accurate take on Christianity and the Bible.

I’ve since decided this – being a Christian is like being a politician.  Politicians, especially during campaign season, have to be ready to give an answer for any question they’re asked – abortion, energy, the war, etc.  Paul, in a way, supports this by telling us to always be ready to give a defense for our beliefs.  But, I know many Christians who simply “don’t care” what the Bible says about certain issues (infant baptism, election, drinking, etc.).  They’re happy with knowing they’re saved, occasionally reading the Bible, occasionally praying, going to church on Sundays, and living the mediocre Christian life.

I’ve been reading through John Stott’s Your Mind Matters.  It’s a very short book, that was originally a speech.  It is Stott’s take on the importance of putting our minds to use, mostly from a Biblical standpoint.  The opponents of Stott’s address are the types of Christians mentioned above.  All over the Bible is evidence of the importance of wisdom.  For the second time in the last couple of years, I’m spending a month in the book of Proverbs.  Since there are thirty-one chapters, I read one chapter per day.  The entire book speaks of the importance of wisdom that comes from God.

Proverbs 2:6

6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;

Proverbs 4:20-21

20 My son, be attentive to my words;
incline your ear to my sayings.
21 Let them not escape from your sight;
keep them within your heart.

Why is wisdom important?  Speaking from personal experience, each time I’ve tried to figure out what the Bible says about a certain issue, I find myself impressed with God and inspired by God even more.  I want to know more.  I move on to the next issue.  It becomes a constant process that I enjoy and hopefully shows in the way I live my life for others to see.  It then becomes a trickle-down effect.  First is the question, next comes the study, next comes the wisdom and understanding, and then finally the application.  All the while, I’m striving to do what God wants me to do – study His word and apply it to my life for others to see.

Powered by ScribeFire.

It’s been a pretty good Labor Day weekend.  Here’s the run-down:

• Cleaned up the basement on Friday night, trying to get it worthy of company.  Since Brad has closed his shop (my roommate), the basement has been overtaken with guitars and equipment.  I was expecting company, so I thought I’d try to make it look decent.
• Over the course of the entire weekend, I’ve been putting a lot of music DVD’s on my computer.  I will eventually put them on my iPod, but it’s cool to have them on the computer and watch them whenever I’m on here.
• Didn’t do too much Saturday, except run some errands during the day.  Watched some of the UK football game (football season already?).  Enjoyed hearing about Michigan getting beat.
• The service on Sunday at The Point was great.  We had a good crowd, Lord’s Supper, a great worship set, and the signups for our small groups, which start this next week.
• Sunday afternoon, Heather came to visit and we watched several movies.  We also had dinner at Aranda’s after finding Penn Station and Gibby’s closed.
• Today, my brother and I played golf at Juniper Hills.  I shot a 112, and he shot a 99.  I will beat him soon.  Maybe.  He actually didn’t play as well as he usually does, so I’m sure I have my work cut out for me to beat him.