Yup, that’s right. Yesterday and today have been snow days for the Georgia public school system. My girl’s private school is still in session though. Can you believe that? They’re making us drive through all this snow to drop them off and pick them up every morning. That’s worth getting upset over, or at least it would be - if it were actually snowing.

I’m not sure what Sonny Purdue is thinking. For those of you who are non-Georgians and read this blog, let me fill you in on what’s happening. After that hurricane hit New Orleans last month, there was a gas scare. Gas was $3.20ish/gallon, up from $2.60ish the same day. There were lines at the pumps, some stations ran out of gas, and old Sonny was sweating trying to figure out how to bring the gas prices back under control.

Well, they came back down when people realized that we weren’t really running out of gas. And with this latest hurricane threatening more oil production along the Gulf Coast, our Governor was obviously concerned about another spike in gas prices. So what did he do? He had the public school system shut down for 2 days, so that they could save some obscenely high number of gallons of gasoline (from not running the school buses).

Hey, that sounds like a great idea, until you factor in (though in speculation) how much gas these kids burn on a 4-day weekend while driving with friends, going to the mall, or being taken to a sitter. Moms and dads weren’t granted days off to go along with the snow holidays, so Governor Purdue’s attempts at saving gas were mostly in vain.

But there’s more to this than just saving gas. There’s the chance that a major school cancellation like this one could cause another idiotic run on the gas stations, again driving up prices - exactly what Purdue didn’t want to happen. Fortunately, Georgians remembered how stupid the last run on gas was, and they didn’t fall for it this time (for the most part).

I like Governor Purdue. I really do. And I’ll vote for him when it’s time, but I really lost some respect for our dear Governor over this issue. Sometimes the best move is to make no move at all.

I was driving home yesterday, frustrated at the static I was hearing on my usual talk radio station, so I picked up that little radio remote control that sits in my truck console and started flipping through the channels. I wasn’t paying any attention to the station…I was just flipping through, listening for something half-decent to hear.

I heard somebody doing a cover of the single “I’ll Be There” and thought to myself, “Well they’re no Four Tops, but they’re not too terribly awful.” So I stopped to listen for a minute. I was fine until I heard a little phrase added into the song. After one of the verses, and before the chorus line that goes “I’ll be there with a love that will shelter you”, the lead singer through in a lovely “Jesus said” before he hit the chorus.

WHAT?! What station was I listening to? I glanced down at the radio and saw those horrid numbers - 104.7 (the fish) - and quickly turned the radio off. I felt dirty.

I’m no big fan of CCM, but this really got me upset. Have Christian artists just run out of ideas for songs so that the only thing they can do is “Christianize” non-Christian music. I mean, if you increase the JPM, surely that’d make it a Christian song, right? That’ll turn this oldies song into a good praise chorus. How absolutely absurd! If an artist is to the point in his journey as a musician that the best he can turn out is a radio friendly cover of an old Four Tops song with a little “Jesus” thrown in for good measure, he needs to quit singing and go get a job selling lumber at the local Home Depot.

If we get people like that off the radio, maybe there’ll be room for some artists who write good music. When was the last time Randall Goodgame or Eric Peters ended up on the radio? Pierce who?

Start demanding quality in what comes through your radio. Maybe, just maybe, those JPM counting radio executives will get the hint one day.

Maybe.

fyi, Andrew Osenga is playing a concert down in LA this week. He’s going to stop by Sam’s and get some gift cards to take to people in need. If you want to PayPal him a few bucks to add to the pot, send them to andrew@andrewosenga.com. Act quick though…he hits the road 9:00 Tuesday morning.

The end of the world is here. I got excited about buying gas for $2.89 today.

This is a public service announcement because I care about the folks that follow my web site:

When you are grilling burgers (or any food, really), don’t touch the part of the grill where the meat goes. It gets pretty hot.

You’ve been warned.

I’ve been rockin’ to tunes of my bud Eric Peters this weekend. Specifically, his project “Miracle of Forgetting”. If you haven’t heard this CD (or, if you’ve never heard Eric’s other stuff), you need to check it out. He’s got sound clips over at his web site.

Oh, and congrats to EP and his lovely wife Danielle on their recent news of an upcoming bundle of joy. He said it’s no longer a secret, so I’m letting the cat out of the bag. Way to go, Pappy!

Between Kennesaw, GA and Nashville, TN, if you don’t stop, you can play Andrew Osenga’s “Photographs” all the way through almost 4 times. I know I should have changed the CD, but everytime that last song finished, I was ready to hear it all over again. I decided on the way back from Nashville that if I had to chose a “desert island CD”, Osenga’s “Photographs” would definitely be one of the finalists.

I’m tired today. I drove up to Nashville to join Andrew Peterson in the celebration of his newest release, “The Far Country”, which is superb, in case you were wondering. It was nice to hang out with some old (and new) friends as we ate Mexican food. I got to catch up a little (and see the kids) with the Petersons, Osengas, Goodgames, and Shives. I rarely get to see their kids, so that was a little extra treat.

Andy played a couple of songs - nothing elaborate. Then we just sat around and talked until it was time to head out. I crawled into bed at 3:00 this morning and woke up (late) about 7:00.

At least it’s Friday.

Well, it’s done. At 2:34 this afternoon, I was officially done with my work on the Appendix A project.

I’ve learned a lot about Andy and his music these last few months, and I’ve seen the quick view of how he has matured as a songwriter. I’ve heard him cover Steven Curtis Chapman songs. I’ve heard him goofing off, crying, laughing, and being serious. I’ve heard him bragging about his boys, his girl, his wife. I’ve heard him making fun of his brother’s bad luck. I’ve heard him compare his grandma to Yoda and Gabe Scott (”The Legend”) to Chewbacca. I’ve heard him excited at the beginning of a tour, and I’ve heard him tired at the end of a tour. But every time - every time - I’ve heard him loving what he does.

It shows in his stories, his jokes, his approach to life, and in his songwriting. “Appendix A” will be a brief compiliation of that - a compilation that no AP fan should be without.

Now I’m off to Nashville to take this collection of bootlegs back to where it should be - out of my basement - and to join in the celebration of Andy’s newest CD release, “The Far Country.”

I’m rounding third and heading home with the Appendix A project. I’m Nashville-bound today, and I’ve got the box of bootlegs in my car waiting to be taken home. I’ve got to do a little editing on a few sound files this morning, but the Appendix A project is basically done and ready to be handed off to Andrew.