A Slower Pace

After having watched the Kenny Chesney concert from 8 to 9pm, I figured I’d push my luck and flip the channel over to the Faith Hill concert from 9 to 10pm. Some more country music entertainment with the wife and kids is worth bending the bedtime rule, right? I was disappointed that the broadcast wasn’t in HD and the concert lacked a little….. something. Being a male, Faith was sure easier on the eyes (my eyes) than Kenny. However, she is not the entertainer he has come to be. She might have the voice, the pop image and the multi-piece band backing her up, but she is no longer country and does not necessarily put on a great show. My wife even made the comment that she needed to stop doing the “bad white man dancing” and just stand behind the microphone and belt out the pop music. We made it through 1 1/2 songs until we all lost interest. The kids ran upstairs to read before bed, my wife left to prep the kitchen for tomorrow and I began watching the recording of “Lost” already going on the ReplayTV.

That’s what I get for pushing my luck.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot com

With DVRs (digital video recorders) in the house, I rarely watch live TV. About the only thing I’ll watch live is sporting events like football and NASCAR. And when I watch those I will make a point to view them in HDTV. If they aren’t in HiDef, I’ll route them through the ReplayTV so I can buffer them allowing me to refill my Dr Pepper, play with (or discipline) the kids and hit the bathroom without missing anything.

So tonight I sat down to watch a recorded show and stumbled upon the Kenny Chesney concert on ABC. It was in HD so I called the kids down, grabbed some leftover chips and salsa I had made for the last NASCAR race last Sunday, and plopped us all down for some good ol’ country music entertainment. My wife even strolled down to complete the group. It was very nice to just sit back, watch the concert and enjoy the music without having to plop some serious coin for tickets, or to have to fight the screaming crowds. And Kenny Chesney not only has some great music, lyrics and storytelling, but he is a great entertainer to boot (pun not intended). I thoroughly enjoyed the time with my family watching that concert. I’d like to take the next step and take ’em for real but I think we’ve hit on a great formula watching it at home. With high definition TV and a great sound system, it’s tough to beat it in real life. I’m saying that because unless you get some close to front row tix, you can’t get a better view than the pre-positioned cameras with multiple angles and zoom capabilities.

Now I know what some of you are thinking. You’re probably old school folks who like the ambience of a venue, the resonance of the live music and the intimacy of 62,000 of your closest drunk friends. You are also the same folks who argue for the “warmness” of vinyl records. While I still have all my old “albums”, they sure don’t play well on an iPod nor are they very transportable nor do they zip over my home music network with lossless quality. Some things are just plain flat out better. Either that or I’m just getting old with the kids sitting in front of the TV watching Kenny Chesney beautifully perform “Who You’d Be Today” and then explaining the song’s meaning to the kids. Whatever it is, I’ll take a night like tonight with the family any time.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot com

Here is a prayer from Mrs. A Slower Pace this evening:

On this day of thanks, we pray that those less fortunate than us won’t go hungry. We pray for the men and women serving our country that they come home safely. We thank you Lord for all of our many blessings; that we have each other, we have good health, a safe and warm home, and clean clothes to wear. Thank you for Dan’s job and that he can provide for us. Thank you for our friends and watch over our families — we pray for their health and happiness. Most of all, thank you that we have each other and that you send us our special angels to watch over us.

In Jesus’ name we pray, Amen.