Shaolin Temple (Gingerbread House)

My friends Amanda, KJ, Meagan, and I built this. Notice my signature on the second image :-) Huah!!

DECODED

Some production company is doing a show for the History Channel called Decoded. Somehow one of their casting-call marketers found my blog Sacred Symbolic. They contacted me and suggested I submit an application to be the "lead investigator." Which basically means the host of the show. From the little information it gives, it would be like Digging For the Truth, or Cities of the Underworld, but with a focus on symbolism and iconography.

I decided to apply. My video part of the application is below. You can read more about the show and the casting-call here: DecodedTV.com.

The Everlasting Prince of Peace

I often credit my music addiction to my Grandpa Washburn. But my Mom is largely responsible too.

She used to play music on an old turntable that sat atop the fridge. She'd stand on a chair to switch the big, black vinyls out. One I remember specifically was a Christmas album by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

They'd sing, "Wonderful! Councilor! The mighty God! The Everlasting--click--Prince of Peace."

It was weird because the scratch matched the rhythm perfectly, so you'd hardly notice it, except that it threw off the chord progression a little.

Even to this day, when I hear that part of Handle's Messiah, I'm a little shocked when the choir throws in that extra measure or two.