I am...

I am a happy man

Dreams.

I remember on the RA retreats that we took. In my first year we had to go through all of these questions with everyone. Each of these questions was designed to divulge a little bit about that person. And to be honest I don't remember anyone's answers but mine. And even then I only really remember one or two questions.

the first was something to do with who you want people to think you are... or who you want to be ... and I said something about living trans-something or other... I don't really remember apparently.

But the second question I remember is "what are your dreams?"

And I had two answers:

First, to build my own acoustic guitar. Still a dream and very little headway has been made in that category. (although Sarah Thompson (then Sampson) bought me a do-it-yourself build your own guitar book. It was neat)

Second, to write and produce my own musical. And three years later, tomorrow... it happens.

Its good to dream and to make that dream happen.

Patman the Pat

(Now I'm just banking on the 'if you build it... they will come..." slogan)

Wisdom from Pat

When you stay up late you are going to be tired.

P the P

St. Patrick's Day

I always become surprised on this day when I see people out sloshed, drinking their hearts out and partying. It just doesn't seem appropriate. I mean frankly to celebrate there should be at least double the drunkenness and triple the good times. Ok well maybe no drunkenness.

But today is my day. St. Patrick. It feels good to know that before I was born people took into consideration that I would be awesome and therefore made a day all about me. They even Sainted me.

My three miracles:

1) Good looks
2) Brains
3) Good looks

Anyways St. Patrick's Day marks the beginning of the 31 days in preparation for my Birthday. During these days people are supposed to talk about me, elevate my status above normal status and frankly just love me. People often forget this part of the Pat Calender but I forgive them on account of ignorance.

I also would like to note April fool's Day. It marks the half way point in this celebration and is also in honor of me. It highlights my keen sense of humor for all to laugh together.

So in conclusion let me remind you tonight when you celebrate remember me.

St. Patman the Pat

Musical update 2.

Exciting times. One completely recorded musical... excluding the live stuff.

Filming Starts tomorrow.

I have most of my work done.

This is great.

I would call that a bad idea...

It seems that recently I have been doing things that I would call a bad idea...

Leave your work to the last miniute... I would say thats a bad idea.

Play Sim City 4... Good idea.

Don't fall asleep til five in the morning... I would say thats a bad idea.

Halo 2... Good idea.

Don't sleep the night after not sleeping til five... I would say thats a bad idea.

Practice Banjo... Good idea.

Catch some sleep in the afternoon... I would say thats a bad idea.

Plan youth camp... Good idea.

Don't sleep the next night either... I would say thats a bad idea.

Take a nap at 3... Good idea.

Don't wake up til 2... I would say thats a bad idea.

Make lots of jokes during your presentation... it could go either way.

But... Get all your work done... Good idea.

I won't tell you which of these are true but you can bet that they all are.

Pat+ Man+ Pat= Patman the Pat

On the Talking Heads

Before I begin some of you may note that the title of my blog is in the nature of Christopher Clement's blog titling style. I have done this for a very specific reason. That being that I am about to post on a band and that is something very much in the style of one C. Clements.

The Talking Heads are a band.
Sample: They write music

They are unique in style.
Sample: *error* sample not found

They like to title song using single nouns
Sample: Heaven, Animals, Air

They have funny lyrics on strange topics.
Samples:
" I know the animals...Are laughing at us
They don't even know...What a joke is
I won't follow...Animal's advice
I don't care...If they're laughing at us. "

" They say they don't need money
They're living on nuts and berries
They say animals don't worry
You know animals are hairy?
They think they know what's best
They're making a fool of us"
(excerpts from Animals)

" This ain't no party, this ain't no disco,
this ain't no fooling around
This ain't no mudd club, or C. B. G. B.,
I ain't got time for that now"
(from Life During Wartime)

I am basing all this on a single album but it must be true of the rest.
To conclude, I like the talking heads.

P the P

Reading List- winter 2007

Although the semester is half over I still have had to read books and am going to read more and so let's have a guided tour through the books that will shape Patman the Pat this semester.

Light of Truth and Fire of Love: A Theology of the Holy Spirit

by Gray Badcock

This book, for my themes in theology: Holy Spirit course, takes you through a whurlwind adventure seeking out theologian's views on the Holy Spirit. I have read some of it. It is ok.
Total Pages: 273

Encountering the Book of Genesis

By Bill T. Arnold

This is a basic commentary on Genesis. It is very easy to read and I often fail to do so while still managing not to fail the test on the book. But its required so I'm getting there.
Total Pages: 205

The republic of Plato

By: Plato

Its the philosopher's big book o' justice. What is Justice? well it is aparently reading a big book o' Justice. Together we discuss the book making us our my own personal Justice League.
Total Pages: 303

And finally the Penner Books:

Jesus and the Victory of God

By N. T. Wright

Wright writes his outline of interpretting Jesus historically. Fascinating and intriguing I will not make fun of this book. lol
Total Pages: 662 (which if you note is just under the amount of reading required for my other three courses)

Paul: In Fresh Perspective

By N.T. Wright

Fresh Perspective on Paul. Fun for the scholarly family. Short and sweet.
Total Pages: 195

The Moral Vision of the New Testament: A Contemporary Introduction to New Testament Ethics

By: Richard Hays

A intriguing breakdown of the entire New Testament canon in attempts to find congruency.
Total Pages:460

Slaves, Women and Homosexuals: Exploring the Hermeneutics of Cultural Analysis

By William J. Webb

With a contriversial title, this book has to be good.
Total Pages: 278

Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity: Unlocking New Testament Culture

By: David A. deSilva

Dan, Brad and myself get to do a presentation on this book. It is a quicker read with a very interesting premise. So far I understand Honor and Patronage and I'm holding my breath for Kinship and Purity.

Total Pages: 336

These bring together the total amount of educational reading I have to do this semester. The grand total of pages to read... 2712 most likely more then I read in all of educational career because frankly I never really tried to do it. Currently I am through about 1404 which means I am truly beyond the half way point. Great...

P the P

Lemons

To a certain extent last weekend I thought for sure life had given me lemons. I'll admit I thought I was never going to make it. Educational walls were closing in, social experiments and musicals brushing hard against the clock. I thought for sure life had given me lemons.

But as I struggled to make lemonade I slowly started to find that the lemons were in fact yellow rocks... which meant gold.

But maybe I"m getting ahead of myself. Let me begin by saying I do not typically complain about life in an open forum like this (in fact you will see this is a story of redemption not death)

But I digress... As I came home from reading week on Saturday 24th there was a dreaded week soon to come. This week from March 12-16th was going to ruin my life. Let me break it down:

12th- 18 Page Genesis paper

13th- 10 Holy Spirit Paper

14th- 500 page book to read

16th- Musical- which to say the least is a vast project

With these dates in mind I had planned a horrendous schedule that ate up all of my time and efforts. This of course is very out of character because I hate schedules. But I had done it.

(Note: actual schedule below... Tuesday is great)

But as Monday rolled around there were rumors from my dear friends at student's council that the musical would be pushed to the 15th of March. Which put it at an even more inconvenient time for both me and the various 'viewers' of it. This meant I needed to talk with the old council to work things out. I approached with a hearty "That date does not work" and got an equally hearty "Ok I'll look into it" This meeting left me with mixed feelings of hope and un-hope.

But a glimmer of light shone from the class that I had just somehow missed the last half of... Yes it seems that one Genesis paper had been delayed from the 12th to the 19th. This of course is the student's favorite thing known to many as: an extension. I was in a euphoric state. Questions began percolating: Can I actually accomplish this? Is this some kind of Trick devised by the Professor? Is it time for lunch? This was truly a blessed occasion.

But this move only meant a slight beacon of joy the new schedule was only slightly better...

lets look:

13th- 10 Holy Spirit Paper
14th- 500 page book to read
15th or 16th- Musical- which to say the least is a vast project
19th- 18 Page Genesis paper

Truly this was manageable...

But it gets better. Tuesday passed with little change and was just a typical Tuesday... that was until late Tuesday night. As I sat reading one of the many 'Dr. Penner Books" the phone rang. I assumed as usual it was for someone else but to my surprise it was Danielle Jupp, which to those of you who are not Tyndaliens, is our VP of Student Council. She had found me a new date for my musical. It was not to be the 16th... it was not to be the 15th... it was not to be not to be... but it was to be the 30th of March. A much better date.

And so I was filled with joy. Not just cause it was two weeks more or that it was not a Thursday night. It was something of joy because March 30th is Spring Banquet. My musical is to be performed at the very venue that I initially proposed it for.

My new schedule is:

13th- 10 Holy Spirit Paper
14th- 500 page book to read
19th- 18 page Genesis Paper
30th- Musical- which to say the least is a vast project

So yes I was given Lemons but it just turns out that someone else was going to make me lemonade.

Have a drink on me... Patman the Pat

Musical Update 1

The title of this blog should really be musical update two but although the first updated you, this one is the first official update.

Stage one is officially underway... We me in Tyndale Chapel (See Below) this afternoon to have a music practice today and I was so encouraged and impressed by what my music sounded like with a band. Not that I'm saying my music was great rather the people playing made it sound great. I specifically enjoyed moving from my loose acoustic guitar grasp of styles of music to a more complete instrumentation of those genres.

The specific fun genres were:

1- Blues
2- 80s rock
3- 50s
4- Exciting opening musical song

Putting a band together was fun and intriguing
My band was:

Dave Kentie- electric Guitar
Andrew Snider- Drums
Ryan 'Poncho' Eras- Bass
Jo (I think her last name is) Miner- Piano
And me on acoustic Guitar

This is us practicing

This was an exciting day. The music is now officially arranged and complete (sort of) and now we move into recording.

P the P

Note: if you ever want to have loads of fun write a musical.

What am I to do with Jesus?

In my recent endeavors to become one that is educated I came across, rather, was told to read the book Jesus and the Victory of God by N. T. Wright. and I think I can rightly say I'm taken aback. Now it isn't that the book was horrible or that it was way beyond my thought process but rather it redefined my way of thinking about Jesus.

Wright approaches Jesus from a specifically historical perspective. Looking at what we as people today can know truly about Jesus. And the thing is that the Jesus we tend to talk about in church seems only a figure of who Jesus was historically.

The book brought out many questions I had never really thought of like:
Did Jesus always intend to die?
Why did he die (not the theological question but rather the social and historical question)?
What did Jesus think of himself?

And frankly these questions opened a whole new light within my thoughts on Jesus. For instance, it turns out, and it makes perfect sense, that Jesus wasn't talking to me. He was talking to a bunch of people around him, and specifically the people of Israel. And ultimately this thought was only a surface scratch on a larger picture being formed around Jesus.

The book brought up many interesting and life changing concepts, not in a devotional sense but rather a factual sense, which will eventually have ramifications on my devotional sense. I would recommend it to anyone longing to see Jesus. With that being said as well it is not a book to take lightly, it will shake things from our present understanding and force some deep questions into the open.

In conclusion Wright's book captures Jesus in a way we rarely see in the modern world. Also where Wright is not entirely perfect in his understanding the book points to a method of which we can begin to interpret Jesus. this post only stands to highlight a small part of this 660 page book but I hope it intrigues you.

P the P

(I feel very Markish for posting on a book but I think it has validation)

Patrick Sutherland: The One Night Stand

That title is something that Dan came up with. I think it is provocative and mysterious. But it's bound to interest you in the latest project I am embarking upon:

Tyndale: the Musical

I know what you are saying "Oh yeh we've all thought of that from time to time but no one ever gets past the thought. When are you going to write it? When will it be? Who going to have the time?"

Well let me respond to each of those in strides:

What are you going to write it?

Already done, infact its already been approved by students council. Its just a matter of doing it. I know you're impressed... save your applause for later.

When will it be?

Since council has approved it I can tell you its on March 16th... so this is your official save the date.

Who has the time?

Well theoretically... I do and various others. Ask around you'll find out who.

Needless to say I am excited. This is the greatest project I've ever tried to accomplish. Its a comedy. It should even be available for DVD purchase... Maybe.

March 16th its going to be great

P the P

Communication and Unity: Community

I have recently joined a new community. It turns out living off campus is drastically different then residence. But one thing never changes... The amount of time spent playing Age of Empires 2. I never knew my house would love to do this as much as we do. Its great. but I feel I must get better.

P the P

Walk the Line...

So this lovly morning in attempts to make it to class I walked through wind and cold, rain that was frozen and fought with a polar bear to find out my professor wasn't here. Man I love being a commutter.

The place was empty and my room was full when I moved into my new home. Church was ablazin' and my roommates were particularly busy. So I took my key from the mail box and pushed my way in. There was no room for me initially but eventually after Locke arrived and cleaned out his old room. It was a sad experience and a big change for us all.

but soon after Lewis day was over I settled in to my room and found a new home. With great friends, good people and a looooong walk to school I have found a new and wonderful place to live.

More to come soon. W-BAM!

Patman t. Pat

images in blog are fancier then they appear