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Introduction To The House of Carr
Introduction To The House of Carr

Not This Time

The third leg of the Triple Crown is Saturday, with Big Brown aiming to be the first horse to accomplish the trifecta in thirty years. Even though some people view this race as a job to the coronation, since 1948 there have been eighteen horses that won the Derby and the Preakness and consequently lost the Belmont. The reason? The Belmont is 1.5 miles, a long haul for many of these horses. With that in mind, I'm predicting that Big Brown will come up empty handed.

Casino Drive is a horse bred specifically for this long distance. He's the spawn of a Derby winner. And he hadn't competed in either of the first two legs of the Triple Crown. Commentators admit that this has been a weak year for the three year-olds, and Casino Drive is the real deal.

Although it would be great to see the horse accomplish this epic task, the trainer is as arrogant as anyone I've ever seen in horse racing. He's been talking smack since Derby week. I'm thinking this is the week he's wrong.

Casino Drive to win.

What I Found

So I woke up early today to go work out. We've had some stormy weather the past two days so it was crazy humid this morning. There was a layer of condensation on my truck window, which I normally wouldn't have noticed except that someone used their finger [I hope] to write on my driver's side window. The message left for me: "LOST"

All day I've been wondering what it meant.

As a minister am I could interpret it as a spiritual message. You know, "there are plenty of lost people in this city, so as you begin your day, remember who's out there."

Sorry, I don't think it was a mission from God.

I guess it could've been someone from the westside of town who mistakenly took a wrong turn and ended up in Eden Park. As they traversed the steep hillside they wanted to make sure that someone knew they were "lost."

I doubt it. Like any self-respecting westsider would go east of 1-71.

Then again, it could be a viral marketing campaign to boost ratings for ABC's hit show that seems to get weirder by the episode.

Not buyin' it. I guess it makes sense since we don't watch Lost, but we never will. By the way, did the season really end with some guy turning a wheel to submerge the island into the ocean?

I believe the real message takes a little more investigation. And I think I finally figured out what it means. It's a message from myself . . . from the future. In the year 2018, when time travel finally becomes the norm, I traveled back in time to 2008 to warm myself of an imminent assassination attempt.

So, obviously, "Lost" is actually an anagram for "Look Out, Steven Tyler!"

Why someone would be so cruel to kill the lead singer of Aerosmith, I don't know. Like I've always planned, in the year 2015 Steven Tyler ends up living in Cincinnati, we run into each other on the street, and I sing Aerosmith's greatest hits to him. He is so impressed that we become best friends. Then, in his later years, I pen an epic biography of his life that wins me many accolades and phat [emphasis "p-h"] cash.

Oh, and I grow a handlebar mustache, but that doesn't factor in to this story.

But I know what you're thinking: why, if you're going to take the effort to travel through time, just leave an arbitrary note on a window when I could just make contact with myself? The reason why, is because it would be too dangerous. Future Steve wouldn't have been able to talk to Current Steve as, anyone who has ever watched VanDamme's cinematic masterpiece Timecop knows, we could touch and since the same matter can't occupy the same space simultaneously, we'd both blow up. Duh. Yes, I am the only one who can save the future of America's greatest Boston-based band [sorry New Kids On The Block]. I . . . am . . . Livin' on the Edge. I am worthy of the task set before me.

So Future Steve, if you're reading this ten years from now, I'll be checking my car window again tomorrow for another message. Or, to save me from having to clean my window, leave a note on my windshield instead.

I don't do so good with hidden messages, anyway.

The Dale Farewell

No way I can be as poetic as my wife in her description, but I too must express sadness at the departure of our good friend Dale. Dale, or "THE Dale" as I nicknamed him, was there at our very first core group meeting. He was there for all the Echo firsts [except the first group picture?], and became a mainstay at Echo Church. He ran our sound. He managed our tech issues. And he cooked like a mothah' [or at least like a mother who watches the Food Network].

Most importantly, The Dale is our friend. Kaelyn absolutely loves him. While it's nice to know that I have a place to stay in New York City if I ever visit, I'd much rather have had him here in Cincy.

It's a bummer when people leave, but I'm sure we'll be seeing him again soon.

A few pics . . .

My reflecting about a crazy night in Georgetown, Ohio.

A snapshot with the Carr fam.

Sometimes I Doubt . . .

. . . what we're doing here in the city because no one is really doing ministry the way we are at Echo; I really haven't found a model that resembles us. As a result, I'm left to compare our plight to either the inner-city mission that reaches predominantly impoverished people [which isn't us] or affluent "emerging" churches that do attraction programming that hinges on big events [which we aren't either]. Being in no man's land can be exciting, but it's a lot like running a marathon alone: you have no idea how well you're doing. When it comes to my mental status, I do pretty well as long as I don't dwell on the negatives too long. But even the optimist can stray to the dark side. But it seems that whenever I hit one of those frustrating patches, God sends me encouragement that keeps me going. Sometimes the edification is found in wisdom from my wife, or in words offered by our church leaders, or, occasionally, from people I've never met.

I read the blog of marketing guru Seth Godin because he consistently offers great insight. He wrote a post this week the coincided with one of my low days and it picked me up. He observed that while our society craves the grand opening, they are truly overrated. Godin offered,

"Make a list of successful products in your industry. Most of them didn't start big. Not the Honda Accord or Facebook, not Aetna Insurance, not JetBlue or that church down the street. Most overnight successes take a decade (okay, four years online)."

He continues,

"The grand opening is a symptom of the real problem . . . Grand opening syndrome forces marketers to spend their time and money at exactly the wrong time, and worse, it leads to a lack of patience that damages the prospects of the product and service being launched . . . Far better to spend the time and money building actual relationships than going for the big 'grand' hit."

He concludes,

"The best time to promote something is after it has raving fans, after you've discovered that it works, after it has a groundswell of support. And more important, the best way to promote something is consistently and persistently and for a long time. Save the bunting for Flag Day."

At the conclusion of the summer will have completed three years of ministry here in Walnut Hills and we still have yet to develop the momentum I know we have in us. But at the same time, I'm just starting to feel like we're planting significant roots here. I have no idea how long it's going to take to accomplish our plans; this endeavor that is Echo Church might take a decade [or decades] to gain traction. But I'll skip the instant gratification for long-term meaningful ministry any day.

Can't Stop

Sorry, two more political thoughts this evening. First, if McCain picks Louisiana governor, Indian-American Bobby Jindal and Obama picks Kansas' woman governor Kathleen Sebelius, the diversity of the ticket would be overwhelming. Who would young/middle-aged white men vote for? Don't answer.

Second, still reflecting on the Wayne's World reunion from the MTV Movie Awards [of course, no video available], I laughed to myself tonight as a web commentator [apologies, no link] likened Hillary Clinton, who rumors say now wants to be Obama's running mate, to Wayne's ex-girlfriend Stacey [yes, video].

I never saw it before, but there is a resemblance.

Let's Get Ready To Rumble!

As if up till now wasn't enough, now it's really on. Even though Obama has enough delegates for the Democratic nomination, Hillary gave her speech tonight without officially conceding. Like I said this morning, I still think it'll happen on Thursday. And as for the Hillary as VP scenario, I would be absolutely shocked if she was on the ticket.

Regardless, we're now set up for the Obama/McCain showdown that will be absolutely fascinating [especially if McCain selects Bobby Jindal as his running mate]. The next few months will be an incredibly polarizing time but hopefully, somewhere in the middle of the mayhem, actual issues will be discussed.

Before we get too far removed, I have to mention a well-publicized sermon from over a week ago. Catholic priest Michael Pfleger insulted Hillary from the Trinity United Church of Christ pulpit, ultimately forcing Obama to sever ties with the congregation.

I was familiar with Pfleger, a hard-working priest serving neglected urban parishes on Chicago's southside. A few months ago he rather articulately and intelligently pwnd a Fox News reporter trying to rip Reverend Wright. His appearance at Trinity did not come across as either articulate or intelligent, but more like cheap entertainment Watch the two videos and see how is pulpit demeanor makes him seem like a totally different person. It's sad because Pfleger's unheralded pastoral ministry to impoverished Chicagoans is now completely overlooked because he was caught up in a moment. It's a good reminder as a preacher that I need to be very careful of the words I utter from the pulpit.

Additionally, as my friend Aaron and I were discussing this situation, he made an observation concerning Christianity in America. He stated that the media used to think that only conservative Christians made controversial, incendiary statements. This presidential campaign has shown that both liberal and conservative Christians will profess views that the general public find offensive.

Anyway, the reason I brought all this up was something I discovered in my class at Xavier last night. Apparently our professor admitted that he actually taught Pfleger in seminary; so the guy who taught him is now teaching me.

Not sure if any of my sermons will factor into this year's presidential campaign. I'm going to try to stay out of it.

Catching Up

I'm finally coming down from a three week marathon where we've been moving non-stop. Life is definitely good, but I enjoy it better when breathing. That said, here are some things I think you need to know:

*I stayed up to watch triple-overtime hockey last night. It goes to show you that Gary Bettman is the worst commissioner in all of sports. I'm not saying that hockey still holds the same place in American sports, but it's definitely too good to be relegated to the Verses network.

*Speaking of hockey, the Cincinnati Cyclones are coming home 3 games to 2 verses Las Vegas, poised to bring our city it's first sports championship in eighteen years. I guess that's good news.

*A little late here, but how about Journey's new lead singer? The last guy they had sounded a lot like Steve Perry but the new guy is a dead ringer. Oh, and the new guy's a Filipino who speaks broken English. I guess this just proves that we're all replaceable.

*They might close down Western Bowl and put in a strip mall. Yep, the end of the world is at hand. To me, Western Bowl is the westside. The even more important question is: whatever happened to Doc Holliday's [I realize these comments are irrelevant to non-Westsiders, but Google it and see what you come up with]?

*The governor is hosting a state-wide Cornhole tourney and not coming to Cincinnati. Even more Westside outrage.

*I'm thinking Hillary will be out of the race by Thursday. I just can't see her admitting defeat tonight [following the final two primaries] or the day after.

*I guess Chad Johnson is going to play this year. I'm sure that'll work out.

*Euro 2008 starts next week. I'm disappointed that England didn't qualify, but will still watch some of the games. Tough to predict the outcome, but I'm thinking Portugal over Germany.

*Quick story: had the Carr Electric HVAC unit out yesterday to recharge the heat pump. Our neighbor's fan motor had locked up this weekend, so I had them look at ours to in order to combine trips. The neighbor collects snakes and keeps them in the laundry room and, when I went with the tech to check out their furnace, his wife informed me that she couldn't find one of them. I'm not Indiana Jones or nothing but it freaked me out, especially considering that our condos share a wall. Upon further inspection the snake was hiding incredibly well in his cage and I didn't die.

*And thinking about this incident yesterday made me think of this. Thanks, John. It's still fun.

Lower Your Pitchfork

So the Dems are seating half the delegates from Michigan and Florida at their convention. Now there can be peace, eh? No way.

Many Floridians and Michiganders Floridians and Michiganders who support Hillary are still ticked that their votes won't be fully counted. Continued references to the 2000 election and even the recent Zimbabwe election can appear to be apt, but they actually are not.

First, this is a party issue. If Hillary supporters really want to take out their anger, it shouldn't be directed toward Obama. It should vented towards Howard Dean and party leadership. Additionally, vent some of that frustration towards your candidate as she figured out how to come-from-ahead and lose a dominating lead. And he hypocrisy concerning the Florida/Michigan elections the first time around didn't help her today.

Second, these people complaining that they didn't even want an early election are responsible even if they don't think they are. They're living in a representative-democratic state and selected the men and women who decided on this early primary. That's America. If you haven't gotten used to it yet, there are a couple hundred other countries you could choose from.

Additionally, I would be shocked if this proportioned delegate/superdelegate system still exists in 2012. It's once again made the Democratic party look ridiculous. In what should be an absolute lay-up election, they're giving the Republicans a head-start towards the White House.

I'm still not convinced Obama will be able to beat McCain.

It's All Crap

Three posts in one day. Obviously, I have a lot on my mind. I had to laugh today as our worship of the environmental god continued to expand with a study examing America's carbon footprint. I imagine as certain mythological aspects of global warming begin to melt away we'll need a new goal to work towards and the mastering of the carbon footprint appears to be the heir apparent.

The reason for my increased skepticism is the results of the aforementioned carbon footprint study. While Honolulu was lauded as the country's best city, second place was a little surprising: Los Angeles. Couple that shock with what was determined to be the worst city in this category [LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY], and the legitimacy of this analysis becomes a joke.

I have been to L.A.. And I have been [once or twice] to Lexington, Kentucky. I'm not quite sure I would have placed those two towns at those ends of the spectrum.

I know some of you will respond that I'm misinterpreting the study, such as that it averages out the impact among each of the cities' inhabitants, or that carbon footprints take into account issues such as  energy consumption and emissions while factoring the benefits of things like public transit, but I really don't care. The stuff that environmentalists are urging us to care about continues to become more and more ridiculous.

Again, I'm all for being good stewards of this beautiful world but if you wholeheartedly believed in the movement that it needs to be saved, you'd be living in a field somewhere, eating off the ground, and not taking advantage of the modern conveniences that continue to contribute to the destruction of our planet.

I'm A Jerk [Again]

Continuing to offer opinions to which some will object . . . Let's wrap up celebrating Joe Nuxhall.

Look, he was a great guy who was loved by the masses. He meant a lot to many Reds fans. And, as a result of his wonderful life, he has been thoroughly honored: he has a quote permanently affixed to the facade of Great American Ballpark [while Marty, because the county commissioners were ridiculous, has nothing], he has a statue in front of the stadium, the team wore his jersey number on Opening Day and is still wearing a "Nuxy" patch on their sleeves.

So did we really have to rename a street to make sure he was even more honored?

Personally, I liked Joe. But as much as I wanted him to get the Frick award and make it into the Hall of Fame [which I imagine he someday will] we all have to admit that he really wasn't a great broadcaster; I tended to avoid innings when he did the play-by-play. He was more of a personality than a professional, very similar to Harry Caray. Joe was a good man, without a doubt. But were his contributions to our community so important that we need to continue to come up with ideas by which to remember him ?

Perhaps my dismay is fueled by the idea that our city has produced many influential people who have helped change the world who never received this kind of honor. For example, Albert Sabin developed the oral polio vaccine, something that we who never lived during the height of the polio scare, will never fully appreciate. The city showed their appreciation of Sabin by naming the convention center after him, the selling out the name to a power company [in a related note, just last week I encountered someone at the convention center who went there to pay their energy bill]. Further more, we have one of our native sons who served as President of the United States yet still doesn't even a statue of his own in the city!

Again, this obviously isn't an attempt to put down Joe. He will be remembered by many for years to come. But 100 years from now, I imagine it will be difficult for someone to explain how his contributions were more significant than many other sons and daughters from our city who had been long forgotten.

No Dough

How about some more Catholic-ish stories? This past weekend I was honored to perform the wedding of Jeff and Kristin in Louisville, Kentucky. They are an amazing couple. Kristin was working on a law degree from Chase at NKU and found us on the interwebs. Jeff was from San Antonio, got a job here in Cincy and a friend-of-a-friend connected him to Kristin. And the rest they say . . .

I should note that the church building in which they were wed was fantastic. Amazing stained glass and woodwork. They had a communion table that was about five feet tall. I conducted the ceremony from the floor, which left very little space to maneuver around. But I'm a can-do guy and wasn't worried about it.

While Kristin is a practicing Protestant [that's fun to write for some odd reason] her family is mostly Catholic. Since Protestant weddings differ greatly from Catholic wedding masses, I do my best to carefully explain the different aspects of the ceremony to the crowd. Additionally, I'll try to make things more familiar to them. For example, there's the Lord's Prayer. My new school Protestantism asks forgiveness from "our debts as we forgive our debtors." Catholics [and old school Protestants], however, ask to be forgiven "of our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us." While I'm usually a "debtor" guy, I'll swing to "trespass" in a Catholic crowd.

Anyway, Jeff and Kristen decided that they wanted to have communion served during the ceremony, so we planned out the specifics at the rehearsal. Fast forward to the service when communion time rolls around. I pick up the bread and chalice [which is rather full] and realize that the close quarters put me within very close proximity to the bride and her very expensive, very white dress. I must admit that I've never been in that situation and was very nervous. Knowledgeable of the fact that spilling a cup full of the fruit of the vine on a wedding dress would be something I would never recover from, I tightly grasped the cup and held it close to my chest.

After the prayer, I served the couple, and then had to serve the rest of the bridal party. This meant again maneuvering around the dress, which I believe grew even whiter as I navigated my way to the bridesmaids, all while holding the cup like a parachutist holds their ripcord. Unfortunately, all my attention was on the cup and I didn't realize I was holding the plate of bread at a slight angle. Sure enough, half of the bread hit the floor at the feet of the maid of honor. Yet fortunately, no one in the audience saw the bread hit the floor and I played it off.* And like a miniature miracle at Zarepheth, there was still enough bread to go around.

Immediately after communion I offered another prayer, after which I had the audience join me in the Lord's Prayer. Like I said, I was concentrating on the whole "trespasses verses debts" line, wanting to get it out properly. Well apparently in my zeal to be accommodating, I skipped right over the line, "Give us this day our daily bread." I had no idea until after the ceremony when Kelly told me. Amazingly no one in the audience pointed that out to me later.

So there was something about bread and me last Saturday. I just couldn't handle it in any form. Not quite sure what that was all about.

Kinda unfortunate too, as it was a beautiful wedding and I really like bread.

*For my Catholic friends, the thought of the bread hitting the floor might be more offensive than I reflected here because of the doctrine of transubstantiation. We Protestants do not view the Eucharist in the same way, so my dropping the bread wasn't a theological violation, but just your standard reason for embarrassment. Additionally, I don't have to polish off the rest of the elements after communion, which I sorta appreciate.

I Don't Call Him Daddy

My current Xavier class has the potential to be my best course thus far at the university. The professor is a retired Jesuit priest who is incredibly informational and conversational. But as it's my first class taught by a priest, I'm finally faced with a dilemma I've been contemplating for some time: what would I call him? Despite not sporting the priestly collar/uniform, he still has the prefix "Father" before his name.

Being raised a good Protestant boy, I was taught the words of Jesus in Matthew 23 that you were not to call any man "Father." And even though I've realized for some time now that the context of that passage deals with the Pharisee leaders who cherished earthly titles to the point of abuse, and it is really not forbidding the Roman Catholic clergy title, it still made me feel awkward to the point of avoidance. Blame it on my upbringing. I've interacted with priests before, but was able to maintain communication by adhering to strictly generic pronouns. I could have tried that with my professor, but six weeks of class-time just seemed like too long to keep up. So last week I finally broke it out for the first time and posed a question to "Father Bracken." Not sure if I'll ever get used to it.

Of course, at Echo, I love it when they call me "Big Papa."

Yikes! [monetarily speaking]

I had a meeting down at the Convention Center, parking in the nearby garage. Normally, I would find a meter on the street, but since my time down there was going to exceed two hours, I didn't want to have to keep running out to fill up the meter. So that's why I sucked it up and used the garage which I knew would be more expensive than it's worth. I neglected to check my wallet before I was leaving, as I didn't have enough cash-on-hand to pay my way out. Fortunately I had some change in the car but I literally used all the coinage I had [including a dime under my seat] to pay it off. I was sure I'd be five-cents short and the lady wouldn't let me out.

Parking garages: a definite negative of city living.

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The Bruce Is Loose!

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Couldn't make it out to the ballpark tonight, but I was excited tonight as Reds phenom Jay Bruce was called up and played in his first major league game. He went 3-3, 2 walks and 2 RBIs, and received a face full of shaving cream during the post-game interview. Here's hoping that we were able to watch the premier of the next great Cincinnati Red. FYI, I believed in this guy so much I picked him up in my fantasy baseball league LAST YEAR. I spent a keeper spot on a guy who didn't play a game until tonight. Thanks, Jay, for making me look smart.

It's Back!

Tuesdays With Kaelyn, that is. Sure, it's been a year since our last contribution [a Mother's Day treat starring Mr T], but another Mother's Day meant that we needed to get back to filming. View the new video by clicking here. Just so you know, the reason we rarely make these anymore is that Kaelyn would prefer to spend our day-off playing than making videos. Maybe as she gets older, she'll prefer to flex her acting ability instead.

Pander Bears

I can accept valid criticism. Without sincere critique it's virtually impossible to improve. But the past week or so I observed two local media outlets cross the line from objective critique to subjective sensationalism and they need to be called out.

The first instance was with the Cincinnati Enquirer. They published a front page story this week exposing the merger of two of the more economically challenged schools in the Cincinnati Public School District. Apparently the district rushed the merger, moving it up from mid-school year to this past August, which led to a bit of chaos as the new school opened. And, as could be predicted, the decision led to a slew of disciplinary problems, many of which were overlooked. Within a few months the principal had resigned and it seems that, by the beginning of the new year, things had finally begun to settle down. But apparently the Enquirer felt it was a front page story that the public needed to know.

Now I'm not going to defend CPD's ill-advised planning here, as it was indeed a hastily decision that created a disordered environment. But the Enquirer took a non-story and ran with it. Notice the headline screams, "Chaos" and "Violence." They also claim that parents feared for their children's safety. Understand that this is the typical media formula to elicit a response from suburban folk who think inner-city folk are savages [witness: the next day letter from Shana in Green Township].

There's no doubt that these are some of the roughest schools in the city. Absentee parentism and poverty abound and disciplinary problems will always be a challenge in these schools. But nowhere in the story is there a quote from any of the concerned parents referenced. Additionally, the Enquirer cites three incidents that very well could have happened in any school in America and, therefore, feel justified with using the term "violence." To bolster the argument, they include a student dropping an F-bomb to a teacher. Again, I highly doubt that such behavior is only found in the ghetto. The only "eyewitness" quoted is someone who said they never witnessed the horrible behavior described in the article.

This story is doing nothing more than pandering to the suburban newspaper-purchasing public who want to feel like their community is safer and more civilized than the city. Unless suburban schools are held to the same scrutiny, this is irresponsible reporting.

But the Enquirer isn't the only local media outlet dumping on Cincinnati Public. Channel 5 News decided that sweeps would be a convenient time to engage viewers by encouraging even more animosity towards the city. They reported that while the Cincinnati Public School District continually asks for tax dollars, they're actually holding a $6million art collection. News 5 proceeded to produce an entire segment to ask why they haven't sold the art to help make up the budget. Again, this is a non-story that made it on air. The art has been donated to the district for over 100 years by the students and citizens of Cincinnati so that future generations can be exposed to pieces of fine art. These donations weren't intended to be pawned off when budgets get a little bad. But I guess News 5 doesn't think kids in city schools should be allowed to experience culture.

Additionally, if News 5 really wants to probe funding issues, why don't they investigate state governments to see why they don't sell state parks to housing developers to balance their budgets? And while they're at it, maybe News 5 can ask why the US Government doesn't sell Florida to the Cubans so they can balance the federal budget. The premise behind the story is moronic and it can never escape it, so it's a waste— end of discussion.

But if that isn't enough, the same News 5 reporter did another sweeps story about how safe the downtown really is— or isn't. He spent an entire night on the streets of downtown on a Friday night with a camera to do some in-depth research on the topic. Even while citing statistics that prove downtown is much safer than it's been in decades, the reporter gets excited because he finds someone who will sell him crack [he says he chose not to purchase]. Additionally, he's aiming for a Murrow award when he actually films a drug deal going down and observes that there is no police around. Forget to note that he's on Court Street at 3am on a Friday night. There is no residential or restaurant for blocks around that area. Do you think CPD can be everywhere all the time? I'd love to see him do the same thing in Newport, Covington, even Blue Ash on a Friday night and see what he came up with. I'm sure downtown is the only place in the city where drugs are dealt.

But the reporter doesn't give a rip because the fact-ignoring story does the job: pandering to the suburban television watching public who want to feel like their community is safer and more civilized than the city.

Like I said, if there is legitimate criticism that needs to be levied, it's the responsibility of the local media to do so. But if they're going to continue to produce this biased crap without holding suburban areas to the same standards, than they're no more credible than the Onion. Actually, I'll go as far as saying as News 5 should be avoided at all cost. It's junior-high journalism at its finest. And my apologies to those junior-highers I've offended.

I should note that, in the midst of my bitterness, I was pleasantly surprised to see Channel 9 do a story citing What's Good In Cincinnati. It wasn't amazing, but it definitely a positive presentation about our area— much more impressive than the news items referenced earlier in this post. The media should report the news, not create it to sell papers or attract cheap ratings.