The following is published with permission from Tage Danielson (R-PA), (My roommate) and is an exerp from his website and possible memoirs (?).
“I met a man today–a trucker–who has driven more than one million miles in his big rig–and that’s just with his present company. To me that number is astonishing. To him, however, it was no big deal. He told me how he drives to Florida every week and has been doing it for more than ten years. He has been doing it so long that he hates it. “It pays the bills,” he said to me. It’s a job. I hear that often from people and it is very sad. Why do so many people hate their careers, but are just comfortable enough to stay to “pay the bills.” I suppose I have found the answer right there. This is depressing. Am I going to be one of those people who ends up in a job I hate but stays for economic reasons? Am I going to be miserable because I refuse to take risks in aspiring for something different and better? I sure hope not because that would be awful with those lingering ‘what if?’s’”
This, and other writings of Tage Danielson (R-PA) can be found at his website by following This Link.
The Semi-automatic Truck
“When we think of friends, and call their faces out of the shadows, and their voices out of the echoes that faint along the corridors of memory, and do it without knowing why save that we love to do it, we content ourselves that that friendship is a Reality, and not a Fancy–that it is built upon a rock, and not upon the sands that dissolve away with the ebbing tides and carry their monuments with them.”
-Mark Twain
It was Sunday afternoon, and the four of us were squeezed in a murky room huddled around a microphone. Then I start the countdown and start the tape rolling, cue the music and, “Good evening ladies and gentlemen, you’re listening to WHET Extemporaneous radio; I’m your host, Thurgood Van Ivers, and this is the Family Hour”. As the music plays on, a world of imagination comes alive before our eyes, and our world is momentarily transformed into any one of a million different scenes. This is how my friends and I make a radio program, and it’s the fabric of our company, Silver Dome Productions.
I suppose in high school most people play sports and achieve that sense of group solidarity and team effort; I was too lazy for that. Besides, I couldn’t catch a ball to save my life. So what do you do if you’re un-athletic, don’t have a team which I could connect to, and are generally lacking the camaraderie of the team experience? You start a radio show!
My friends and I started Silver Dome Productions, and our shows were entirely improvised and usually involved foreign countries, kings and queens, murderous villains, and plots for world domination. There were also a slew of talk shows involving simulated callers, and “industry experts”. We all worked together to weave a world to which listeners could escape; where we as actors wanted to escape, and felt our creativity lead. During those hours in the studio we checked rules and regulations at the door, homework, classes, and schedules weren’t to be considered, and math wasn’t dragging the fanciful mind back to the cubic volume of a salt mine.
In addition to the freedom from rules, Sliver Dome Productions offered us friendship and camaraderie. People who had very little in common outside of the studio, were suddenly tied together like strangers in a three-legged race. Silver Dome Productions was holding us together as we plunged forward, and we all helped direct each other towards a common goal: An entertaining show.
In most shows there are those that steer the direction of the show, and those that support that determined direction. However, for those who ended up doing more supporting then they did steering, we had commercials. Commercials took on a life of their own, offering a refreshing break from our story as well as a chance to involve others in more central roles. These become healthy opportunities to exercise different creative muscles outside of a story. Once, while doing a commercial for “Anti-Disinfectant” soap, a character nearly got hit by a “Semi-automatic truck”. We soon learned that laughing at ourselves during those on-air mistakes was crucial to having a good time. Nothing ties friends together like the shared experience of an inside-joke; our commercials churned out some hysterical concepts that serve to tie us together as comrades. During one spontaneous commercial we found ourselves desperately trying to keep our laughter quiet as our narrator donned a southern accent to say, “Hi, I’m a swine farmer; that means I keep pigs. I live in the heartland of this great American Country. I like to keep my pigs clean. A lot of people have the misconception of pigs as dirty animals, but that just doesn’t have to be the case, I clean every one of my animals with Anti-disinfectant soap; little porkers go around shiny and pink all day long.” The rest of the group jumped in with pig squeals, and everyone left that afternoon with a lasting memory.
Our regular “radio” meetings had become a central segment of my high-school life, and in some cases the focus of our friendship. I think people, particularly teens, need to have friendships, and feel a sense of belonging. Some join clubs, others find fellowship through sports, and team events. I found the friendship and camaraderie I wanted through both my church, and Silver Dome Productions.
By the end of high school we had produced nearly 60 hours of radio programming, accumulated a suit case full of tapes, and found listeners who actively enjoyed listening to our shows. Then came college.
During my senior year of high school we spent a lot of time thinking about how we were going to continue our show after we left for college. Would it be possible to stumble back home on weekends and drum up the energy to produce a whole radio program? Would we have the time? Most importantly, how would we maintain our friendships without the unifying glue of radio? The rope of the three-legged race was coming apart, and we now needed to work harder to keep our steps together.
I have now been in college for 5 weeks. At first, my returning home for the weekend was a necessity. I felt that I would lose those friendships and be friendless if I didn’t see them each weekend. But now, as I make more and more friends here on campus, my desire to go home weakens. I am starting realize there is more to friendship then what you accomplish together. Our camaraderie is rooted not in how often we see each other, or how many experiences we share, but in something deeper; something that lasts: The Gospel. We are united as friends by our common love for our savior, and his death on The Cross for our sins. Once I understood this eternal truth, how often we perform a radio show has little or no importance at all.
Just before heading off to American University, during a long car ride through the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with my best friend and colleague, David Somerville, we discovered each other’s hidden, but strong desire to seriously consider the possibility of doing our radio shows professionally. The more I think about how much fun it would be to pursue a radio program, the more I feel that that is the calling on my life. Especially now with the support of a good friend I have the fortitude to continue.
While my teen years have been filled with anxiety for college, and worry about how obstacles will be surmounted, I now have a different perspective. I have come to understand that my years in college should be used to be retooled for real life; a life of ups, and downs. I may not ever achieve my dream of a career built around entertainment and friendship, but whatever I end up doing, I will now trust God, and the meaning He will give to my life.
::EDIT:: Some of you may have taken the part in my last post about getting away from MC and into the world in a slightly more negitive light then I meant it. Or maybe not, but it still needs some explaining.
MC IS THE WORLD. Students who are attending MC are doing a wonderful job at reaching the lost on that campus, and I was wrong to imply that other campuses are in anyway more important then MC. MC is a great school whose students are just as in need of a savior as anywhere else.
That being said, I would love to see more people from CLC branching out and reaching other campuses. Especially those who have gone to CLS. You’ve been trained very well, and its time to go use that training for the Glory of God.
That being said, Many thanks to all those who are involved with MC Alpha, and all the other outreach events they do there, you’re doing a wonderful job.
Echo is a different story…..
Evangelism
COLLEGE UPDATE! I wanted all you to know what happend last night, and since I talke with Dave about it and didn’t want to type it twice, here ya go!!
David: Howdy do!
Jason: hey there! I was just writing about you!
David: Uh….oh.
Jason: I’m writing a Personal Essay, and surprise, surprise, its about SDP.
David: Gee whillikers. Never woulda thunk.
Jason: haha…
Jason: Dave, God was so good to me last night, I spent from 7:00-3:00am going over the Gospel, and other theology with a guy on our floor. It was SO good.
David: Are you serious?
David: That’s awesome!!
Jason: yeah… it was great! I didn’t get much homework done, but I was able to clearly state the Gospel at least 3 times…
David: That’s so good. How’d it happen?
Jason: Well, it started as a debate with another guy on the floor about God’s influence on our Government, and whether or not we have free will (don’t ask how that came up) Then for about an hour it turned Political (where do you stand on this, or that, mainly Abortion, and Gay Marriage) It was then that our other guy came up (by then the political debate had grown pretty large) and I decided to head to bed, well as I was walking away, he came up to be and said how valueable this part of college was, and how I shouldn’t miss it…
David: True dat.
Jason: …I’m still not sure how we got on the subject of religion from there, but that quickly turned into a question of Absolute Truth, and why I believe the Bible should be the standard of absolute truth, etc. VERY good!
David: Wow.
Jason: He had a hard time with the only one way to heaven thing. I don’t blame him, but I explained that if we are to say that the Bible is my standard of Absolute truth, (which he agreed with) Then when the bible says that there is only one way, we shouldn’t start looking for alternatives. The seemed to get the idea, by the grace of God only…
David: Man, that’s great!
Jason: …We then talked about believing the word of God as being true, the Holy Spirit, and Personal vs. Church-hosted Fellowship with God.
David: Mahn.
Jason: I basically spent the whole night reading Bible Doctrine…
Jason: anyway… it was a good time.
Jason: Was there anything you needed in particular? I hate to think you actually needed something during my verbal rampage…
David: That’s so cool. Way to go, m’friend!
David: Didn’t need a thing, other than to hear that cool, cool news!
Jason: oh good!
Jason: I really hope that more people go room with non-christians, and go out into the world, sure you have to deal with beer kegs being kept in your room, but you get to have conversations like that. I think its sort of ashame that most people end up going to MC when they could be reaching out on other campuses too. We’ve been taught so well, its really great to have an opportunity to use what I’ve learned.
David: Mmh. Yeah. Man, it’s so good to hear you saying all this! I love watching you get set on fire!
Jason: it’ll be fun to see how God uses me in the future…
David: I’ll be watching your career with great interest.
Jason: I will too.
Forgetting stuff…
Once there was a mechanic whose job it was to fix cars. (Surprise!) He was acknowledged far and near as being the most honest automechanic in Montgomery County.
One day he recieved a call from a young lady whose complaint was that everytime she turned Left, her car would konk out. Without fail, after every turn the engine would shut down. She loved this car and was loathed to part with it except for this terrible and most dangerous problem. After-all, a left turn is among the most dangerous if your car is prone to konk-outs.
So the mechanic suggested that she bring the car in and he’d test drive it and see if he could replicate the same problem.
Well, to the lady’s surprise, it didn’t. The car ran fine, not a problem in the world. However once again when the Lady drove it home from the shop, the car konked out on a left turn.
The mechanic then asked to ride with her has she drove in hopes of replicating the problem. And low and behold it happend. And the mechanic could see immediatly what the problem was.
What was the problem you ask?
Well as it happened the lady had a HUGE mound of keys attached to her key chain, and everytime she hoisted her key into the ignition, started the car, and turned left, the weight of the keys would turn the ignition key, and turn off the engine.
While I’m not sure whether he charged the lady for his service or not, but he now teaches auto repair at Montgomery College and is retired from any form of fixing cars, thus continuing the tradition, that a good mechanic is hard to find.
————————
In other news, my college life has been getting more and more difficult as I go. This is due to the fact that I’m constantly shedding the acoutrements of modern life.
To-date I’ve lost or misplaced:
1. bottle of Shampoo
2. bottle of Dish soap
3. My shaving razor
4. A folding chair
5. and now, my towel and wash-cloth.
As you may imagine, this is extremely vexing! Its extremely hard to maintain a typical Edwardian lifestyle without these basic essentials!
Now, before you critique my gray-cells let me just say that I firmly believe that my chair and soap were borrowed, and forgotten about, and that my shampoo WAS in fact stolen, my towel and wash-cloth was left at home when I went home for the weekend, and my razor was also left at home, but then could not be found when I went back to look.
This is depressing!
I’m going to bed!
- wait -
where’s my pillow!!!
here’s a thought for you. I’ve recieved alot of flack for not going out and drinking/partying, attending free “S-x, milk, and Cookies” night (a safe s-x education program involving free milk and cookies for going) and participating generally in the typical “college experience”.
I haven’t minded this so much because the flack hasn’t been so great, but I do get quite a few questions and am generally known for being all the things which I have been known for back home.
There are two interesting things about this that I’d like to explore.
1. Why are people so eager for me, the “priest of the floor” to be involved in some form of drinking or frat party?
2. How do people so quickly pick up on the fact that I’m “British”?
Well I’m going to propose that perhaps they are eager to feel as though there isn’t anything wrong with what they’re doing. I also find this encouraging because, by God’s grace, they see something different about me, I hope a Spirit empowered morality that makes them uncomfortable to behave foolishly around me. Praise God.
It is also worth noting, before you start questioning the wisdom of attending college with non-christian roommates, that God has blessed me with a wonderful group of friends who aren’t christians, but are mature.
Here are some quotes from the evening”
“Sigmon And Froid, the Lion tamers!” (meant Sigfrey and Roy)
“The opposite of Progress – Congress!”
We spent the last four hours playing board games and fellowshipping in the loung together. It was a wonderful time! We had good clean fun! and we all went to bed happy, healthy, and content. Well, at least compared to those floor members who were encouraging me towards parties. They spent the last hour in the restroom divulging their meal plan.
Now before you think that I’m saying “Praise God he hasn’t made me like them”, I want you to know that I don’t mean it in that sense. Simply observing.
If you think of it, pray for Tage. He’s a good kid, but I can see him being drawn into worldiness.
Thanks for your friendship to me. I have learned alot about Godly relationships from you!
(I’m tired, can you tell?)
Several people have asked what this SDP thing is I always write about. Well, its probably the most entertaining part of my life.
The SDP, or Silver Dome Productions is a company/club that Me, David S., Danny M., Mike Hartnett, and Garrett R. are involved in that produces radio programs.
Anyway, thats the short version.
::Edit::
The SDP is a blend of the following comedic influences:
Monty Python (Cleaned up)
Veggie Tales
Pixar Films
Whose Line is it Anyway? (Cleaned up)
and a few more that I’m trying to build a list of. Any thoughts members?
Anyway, I’m off to Critical Approach to Cinema class. Its probably one of the best classes I’ve taken yet. I just hope that they don’t give us any homework, I’ve got enough of that as it is.
No image Available…
Perhaps they’ve done this already, but I have a great idea for an SDP audio album:
(Hint, it’s supposed to say “No Image Available”.)
So when search for “SDP album # 58″ on Amazon or where ever, thats what will come up as “the cover”. Now if you could tie in some deeper meaning, like how we’re not conformed to the image of others, or something like that. hehehe… that would be great! Thanks John David for inspiring this idea!
Returning to School after a weekend at home
Today I feel a little like a refugee returning from a foreign land, or maybe (and more probably) like a French Aristocrat returning to Paris after a failed French revolution, having fled to Great Brittain in seek of refuge from “the Masses”.
Now before you think I go around imagining myself French Aristocracy ALL the time, please let me explain.
Murmurs of revolution started sturring on Thursday evening here on 2nd Floor Hughs (AKA Paris). Yes friends, trouble was stirring at American U. (aka France) The Masses started accumulating bottles of Alcohol, and the like, in preparation for their “Moral Revolution”. (aka: “Party”)
I decided it would be best to flee with my books to my home from what promised to be a wild weekend. This I did with the next shuttle bus. (Boat)
Having heard nothing from the mother country for over 3 days, I finally decided it would a good time to gather a Moralist force and once again invade my homeland (aka Dorm)
Having taken His Majesty’s Fastest Ship (aka the Buick LeSabre) back down to the Port Au Drop Auf Zaun (aka Drop off zone) where we embarked to reclaim “The Dominion of Light!” (aka, we have electric lighting!)
As my forces and I entered the city I drew my sword (aka I.D card) and slashed through the ropes that barred the gate (aka swiped my I.D. card to open the door.) to my surpise we met with very little opposition on our way into the interior of the City (aka dorm) the streets were abandonned. This was largly due to the fact that it was so early in the morning and that the revolutionary forces weren’t yet able to put up any kind of defence.
We soon arrived at the inner citidel of the city. Whose solid stone walls (aka cinder blocks) blocked us from going further. This was our first major obstacle, and one that proved too strong to over come. As it turned out, I had left my keys back in England and wasn’t able to enter the fortress. We were forced to pound the door awaking the drunken masses from their slumber and allowing our forces (aka book bags and other articles I was carrying) to overwhelm the stammering gaurd (roommates).
After returning to England to thank the Queen (mom) for her kind support of all that is just and right in the world, and after picking up my keys, I returned to my native land, and am now enjoying the life I once knew not so long ago.
Sure, not all has returned to the way it was, there are several public notices of apology posted around the streets pertaining to actions taken during the early morning hours that were of a purely drunken nature, as well as many stories of the trauma that the weekend had provided. I only hope next time, we’re all prepared a little better.
Tune in Next week for the exciting story of more French Revolutionaries causing civil unrest in a dorm near you! Also join us for “what kind of royalty do YOU think Jason is” The game that matches wit, grit, and fancy to more perfectly understand where his mind is at! Until then, I’m Rocky Shore wishing you, Bon Voyage!
::On a seperate note: I do intend to post actual pictures of my dorm room at some point, but as of yet, I don’t have any, and can’t get the ones I took off the camera. I’ll keep you up to date::
College Drinking
One fun thing about having roommates that aren’t Christians – you get to re-live the speakeasys of the prohibition in your dorm room every night!
(Note: I’m in a triple, and it really doesn’t apply to Tage. Also, every night is a gross exageration for dramatic effect, this is first night we’ve had “orange juice” in our dorm)
