Nashville Predators hockey; cinema (love the theater experience); reading; travel--whether it's Fall Creek Falls or Mount Kilamanjaro (have been to 49 countries and all 50 states); museums; community found in church; concerts (have attended over 2,800); volleyball; maps; working out; baseball statistics; writing; analyzing films; hiking; discovering different foods; long discussions with friends on any topic that deserves our time; authentic Italian gelato; satire; exercising my gift of exhortation; and drawing.
Music
U2, Bruce Springsteen, Yes, Midnight Oil, David Wilcox, King's X, Neal Morse, Lizst, Don Henley, Joni Mitchell, Rossini, The Beatles, Randy Newman, Dvorak, John Hiatt, Kansas, Debussey, Genesis, Police, Derek Webb, Prokofiev, Simon and Garfunkle, Rush, Phil Keaggy, Sheryl Crow, Mussorgsky, Gentle Giant, Robert Randolph, Dixie Dregs, Tchaikovsky, Foo Fighters, Mark Heard, Squeeze, Led Zeppelin, Mahler, Spock's Beard, Cheap Trick, Waterdeep, Janis Joplin, Gershwin, Roy Buchanan, Black Sabbath (first 5), Chopin, ELP, Monte Montgomery, Transatlantic, Muse, and Cream to name a few. I have over 2,500 albums in my collection--at one point it was over 6,000.
Movies
Amazing Grace, Tender Mercies, Slumdog Millionaire, Meet John Doe, Chariots of Fire, Network, Gandhi, The Pianist, Dances With Wolves, Millions, Gladiator, The Man Who Knew Too Little, El Norte, Crash, Fantasia, The Sixth Sense, It's A Wonderful Life, The Reader, Oh Brother Where Art Thou, The Life of Brian, Shawshank Redemption, No End In Sight, Lord of the Rings Trilogy, Annie Hall, Koyaanisqatsi (Life Out of Balance), Powaqqatsi (Life In Transition), Naqoyqatsi (Life As War), The Passion of the Christ, Farenheit 9/11, Amadeus, 2001: A Space Odyssey, The Adventures of Baron Von Muncheusen, Fried Green Tomatoes, Awakenings, To End All Wars, Being There, Zelig, Ben Hur, As Good As it Gets, Cinderella Man, The Black Robe, Spitfire Grille, Alien, Napolean Dynamite, Time Bandits, Blade Runner, Spinal Tap, The Color Purple, Raising Arizona, Saving Private Ryan, Places In the Heart, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, The Count of Monte Cristo, Forrest Gump, Lost In America, Seabiscuit, Born Into Brothels, Life Is Beautiful, The Mission, Amelie, Waiting for Guffman, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Rear Window, Broadcast News, Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Shadowlands, Groundhog Day, Aliens, A Fish Called Wanda, Hannah and Her Sisters, The Natural, and Planes, Trains, & Automobiles to name a sampling (see about 40 films a year in theaters, and about the same on DVD).
Television
The Simpsons, The Daily Show, All in the Family, Seinfeld, Frasier, M.A.S.H., Monty Python's Flying Circus, BBC World News, Family Guy, Adult Swim, Art Classics Channel, The Wonder Years, Monk, Andy Griffith Show (first 5 years), The Colbert Report, Fawlty Towers, The Twilight Zone, and Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Books
God's Politics: How the Right Gets It Wrong and the Left Doesn't Get It (Jim Wallis), Soul Survivor (Phillip Yancy), The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis), Pilgrim At Tinker Creek (Annie Dillard), The Message (Eugene Peterson), City of Joy (Dominique LaPierre), Velvet Elvis (Rob Bell), The Road Less Traveled (Scott Peck), The Myth of Certainty (Daniel Taylor), Speaking My Mind (Tony Campolo), Les Miserables (Victor Hugo), The People's History of America (Howard Zinn), Traveling Mercies (Anne Lamott), Rich Christians In An Age of Hunger (Ron Sider), Blue Like Jazz (Donald Miller), All the President's Men (Woodward and Bernstein), Irresistable Revolution (Shane Claiborne), Messy Spirituality (Mike Yaconelli), To Kill a Mockingbird (Harper Lee), The Myth of a Christian Nation (Gregory Boyd), Ruthless Trust (Brennan Manning), What's So Amazing About Grace? (Phillip Yancy), Sherlock Holmes (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle), Knowledge of the Holy (A.W. Tozer), Don Quixote (Miguel de Cervantes), The Octopus (Frank Norris), Calvin and Hobbes Anthology (Bill Watterson), Far Side History (Gary Larsen), and everything by Martin Luther are amongst my faves.
Heroes
Jesus Christ, John F. Hollingsworth, Martin Luther, Mother Teresa, Bill Moyers, David Putnam, St. Francis of Assisi, Jimmy Carter, Desmond Tutu, Tony Campolo, Roberto Clemente, Mary Magdalene, Oscar Romero, Mahatma Gandhi, James Thurber, Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Tim Russert, Corrie Tenboom, Peter Garrett, Martin Luther King, Frances Perkins, Soren Kierkegaard, Mark Hatfield, John Wesley, Bono, Florence Nightengale, William Wilberforce, Korczak and Ruth Ziolkowski, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, The Dutch Masters, Harriet Tubman, Howard Finster, and Lewis Black.
Wheaton College
Wheaton, ILLINOIS
Graduated: N/A
Degree: Bachelor's Degree
Major: Speech Communications
Clubs: PD and MD at WETN Radio, music column in Wheaton Record, concert promoter for Student Union
1950 to 1950
Eisenhower High School
Decatur, ILLINOIS
Graduated: 1950
Student status: Alumni
Degree: High School Diploma
Clubs: Editor for underground humor paper called J.U.N.K. (Juvenile Uncensored News Kommentators), baseball team, drama.
About me:
Muppets Rule! Bohemian Rhapsody:
Lord Save Us From Your Followers, in theaters nationwide starting Sept. 25. Go to LordSaveUsTheMovie.com for locations
I'm a radical moderate who strives for the divine while being earthy and even profane at times. I have traversed the globe numerous times, and yet don't know my neighbors as well as I'd like. I enjoy opera and bluegrass, the Jim Lehrer News Hour and the Three Stooges, and roast duck and meatloaf. I've slept in slums in Haiti, on the Orient Express in France, and at a mission in Khatmandu. I've voted Republican, Democrat, and Independant, and have been equally disgusted with all three. I speak enough Spanish to be dangerous. A long time ago I learned that the best phrases to speak in any foreign language are PLEASE, THANK YOU, and EXCUSE ME, I'M A STUPID AMERICAN, CAN YOU HELP ME?
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I work for Compassion International, a Christian third world child development ministry that assists 1 million kids in desperately poor situations in 25 countries.
I head up the Radio Marketing Dept., which raised over 12,000 sponsorships for these needy children last year alone. It's really fascinating and rewarding work.
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Over the years I've also spent a lot of time as an artist manager for musicians like Steve Taylor, Petra, Sixpence None the Richer, and Smalltown Poets among others. Artists that I've helped direct have been nominated for 8 Grammy Awards and 27 Dove Awards (winning 3 and 14 respectively), as well as selling millions of albums and concert tickets. I'm good at that sort of thing, but found that I'm the most fulfilled when I combine my concern for justice amongst the poor with my marketing savvy. Hence, Compassion is a great match for me.
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Have also done things as diverse as being a staff writer for National Lampoon Magazine; being a published writer in 25 other magazines; being a GM of a minor league hockey franchise here in Nashville; promoting over 800 concerts, and booking close to 1,000 more. Have worked for several record labels, music retail chains, and been Music Director/Program Director at 4 different rock stations.
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Several times I have gotten close to marriage, but it unraveled each time (and in retrospect I'm glad for all involved that they did). Hence, I've never walked the aisle, although I'm told I'd be a proverbial "good catch." I've come to the resolve of being quite content in my singleness, but still sometimes wonder if I were to meet the right lady at the right time what might come of it....
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Am quite involved in the leadership of a non-denominational church called The Village Chapel, which meets in a 100 year old former nunnery chapel a few miles from my home.
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I stay fit by working out 3-4 times a week, power walking, hiking, volleyball, etc. I'm a social creature, and enjoy hanging with friends, experiencing new situations and people as often as I can.
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I try to pray a lot, but have also been known for some salty language. I work at being a pacifist, yet I enjoy a good fight on the ice at a hockey game. I'm content being single, yet long for companionship.
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So, to summarize, I'm a bundle of contradictions, but also pretty consistent about what I truly hold dear: faith, family, friends, and justice. One more thing....my sign is not really Sagittarius--it's Feces. ; )
Who I'd like to meet: People who are curious about life; who realize that learning never ends; who are stimulated by art, beauty, and justice; who know how to laugh at themselves and our shared human absurdities; who realize that faith and doubt are inextricably connected, but cling to the hope that Love trancends; who revel in the search, and avoid smugness of those who believe they have arrived; who follow the mantra of Talk Minus Action = Zero; who are drawn towards helping others, especially those in need; who have proudly stood by the same baseball team for their entire lives; who believe that something's amiss when Stevie Ray Vaughn is taken in his prime, yet Britney Spears still breathes and annoys (just kidding...sort of).
Just thought I'd drop in to say hey since I haven't in a while. Wanted to see how you were doing & how your dad is doing as well. Hope to see you at a Preds game soon.
Actually, I don't technically know why I look so bored or deep thinking here, cause remember, you took this picture! In Haiti, during the interviews with the students going through the graduate program. And I WASN'T bored!
Thanks for the B-Day greetings!!! Boy, was there alot of lessons learned over the last year!!! Hope you're doing well in "Da'Ville".... sometimes I miss living there, sometimes I don't (especially those horribly humid summers) :-)
Wow, what a profound video/song in relation to Dan's life, from what I know of him, thanks to you. Such a cute video, too, with the kids and all the energy!
Hi Mark, thank you for the Birthday wishes, I had a wonderful birthday weekend. I don't get to log on as often. I hope you're well too. Have a wonderful day.
