a little diddy about tal-biddy

hello devout talby fanatics,

i'm sorry that i'm not able to write tonight.

i just got back from anniversary weekend with the wife. 

happy listening!

i'm confident a version will be available for sale on iTunes in the near future.

talby mania > linsanity

Another Talby Tuesday is upon us. I'll have you know that I talked with the man himself last week for valentine's day and amazingly he had no plans for the night. He was just relaxing with ol' duke watching some tv. I watched some TV over the weekend and got the chance to watch Jeremy Lin and the New York Knicks beat the Dallas Mavericks. Lin really does make watching the NBA fun again.  Seeing all the fans and all of the "Linsanity" that is taking over the world made me pause and think "I have seen excitement like this somewhere before...". And then I remembered that long before there was Linsanity, there was Talby-mania. Yes, Talby has shocking basketball skills and he has a band of crazy fans. Let me clarify. When I say Talby has shocking basketball skills, I mean shockingly bad basketball skills, which makes sense because he was a wrestler. All wrestlers I have known have been very bad basketball players. My hypothesis was confirmed the first time I saw Talby shoot a layup. I was baffled, and found myself wondering, "How could someone who has at least a little bit of coordination make shooting a basketball look so bad?" I honestly thought he was joking when he consistently shot the ball (feet, not inches) wide of the hoop. While it troubled me, Talby was not bothered  at all. Everyone would get mad at him for being so bad during pick-up games, but he just laughed and ran around the court the whole time. Weird.

During our time at Grove City, they had an intramural basketball league and the league was split up into four divisions, A,B,C, and D. A being the best and D being the worst. Talby and his crew of fraternity brothers were obviously in the D league. While the games were horrible and the play was extremely violent, it was still great entertainment, especially to watch Talby play. Decked out in arm bands, and rocking some tight cut-off, Talby was the intimidator. Many times, when we watched Talby, we would get to see basketballs bounce off of his head, his ridiculous attempts at dribbling the ball down the court, and his usual air balls. It was a comedy. But during a very important D-Leaugue game, all the stars aligned and "Talby Mania" erupted.

It was kinda like this

Talby was on the bench as our Fraternity team was locked in a heated battle. All of the other Pi's were there and were demanding that Talby be put in the game! The team obliged and Talby entered center stage. Every time Talby got the ball we would all yell "Shoot it!"... and for some reason he listened to us. As Talby launched a deep three pointer, we were all expecting it to hit off the wall or the rafters. It was a ridiculously high arcing shot and the ball was in the air for at least 4 seconds. As it came down from the moon, it managed to hit nothing. Nothing but net. Cheers, Jubilation, and leaps for joy were seen all around. But that was just the beginning.
Late in the 4th quarter, the game was tied and Talby was again inserted into the game. With time winding down, there was only one person who was going to be taking the last shot. As Talby received the ball, his ears were filled with the ringing chorus of his friends screaming "Shoot IT!" Talby turned, and from beyond NBA 3 point range, shot the ball from the middle of his chest, rocketing it toward the heavens. By this time we had already started rushing the court. Why did we do this before we knew the outcome? Did we do it because of Destiny? No, we did it because it was Talby and we knew that there was no other way that this could turn out. The ball swooshed through the hoop and the buzzer went off. Talby turned around to see the fast-closing mob of fans and he promptly threw up the "Carl Krauser" X above his head. We swarmed him and rejoiced. Thus began the "Talby-Mania" and all of the tales that would be told in the years to come about his basketball skills. So remember, dear readers, as you watch sportscenter and see all the athletes tweeting about Jeremy Lin and Linsanity; that Before Lin there was Tal. May we all never forget that great night. May we never forget Talby Mania.

The 1997 Bucco's

It's that time of year again. Spring training is upon us and baseball fans everywhere are filled with optimism as all team begin anew with a blank slate. As a Pirates fan I find myself again saying that this will finally be our year. Oh don't let me fool you, I have no aspirations of the bucs being pennant contenders or even making the playoff. When I say this will be their year, I mean that this will be the season where they win more games than they lose. This has not happened since that fateful '92 season where Barry Bonds failed to throw out Sid Bream at Home plate and cost the buccos a chance at the world series. Those were the high times for Pittsburgh baseball. They had star power with names like Bobby Bonilla, Barry Bonds, and Andy Van Slyke. They also had characters like Don Slaught (The ultimate Pittsburgh name to say!) and Mike Lavalierre. But ever since that summer night back in '92, the bucs have never been the same. They lost their stars and they lost a lot of games, over a lot of years. Their roster was so bad in '94 that their all star representative was no namer Carlos Garcia. While the trend of decreasing talent continued, the Buccos magically almost put together a winning season in the summer of 1997. Because they were a mishmash of old journeymen and young prospects the team was referred to as the "freak show." What the team lacked in talent, they made up for in character. Who could forget, "sweet" Lou Collier, Kevin Polcovich, the "alligator wrestler" Bruce Aven, Kevin Young, Turner Ward,  Mark Smith, and Ricardo Rincon?

That year was the year that the bucs came closest to having a winning season. They battled but they ended the year 5 games under .500. Since '97 the Pirates have not even been close to flirting with .500. The state of Pittsburgh baseball has been so bad that the Post-Gazette did a week long tribute to the '97 Pirates, the team that 'almost' had a winning record. Sad. But, I do admit that that was a great year of baseball. Rooting for a "freak show" of a team that had no stars and a ton of character gives me so many memories and things to talk about with my fellow Pirate fans. I have come to terms with the fact that the Pirates will probably never again have the star power like they did in '92, but maybe just maybe they might get a team that has the right ingredients to make a run at....... a winning season.

Last year the Bucs gave us hope again. After beating the Red-Sox the Pirates were over .500 and PNC Park was rocking. I have never seen so much excitement over Pittsburgh Baseball, than when Michael McHenry hit a walk-off 3 run homer to put the Pirates in first place of their division. But soon the excitement faded away. I went on vacation and while I was gone they lost 10 in a row. They ended like 18 games under. But again that team, along with the '97 team, gave fans a taste of hope and the thrill of optimism that has been buried for years. This year, the Bucs have a little more talent. Andrew McCutchen and Neil Walker are two All-Star caliber players (unlike Carlos Garcia) and they have a decent starting pitching staff. Hey, it's still spring and the season has not started yet so I can joyfully and confidently say that this could very well be their year. Season prediction: 82-80.

A Twilight Talby Tuesday!

Thanks to Chris Rich for giving me a week off and providing some great Talby material. I was not here to experience this story but my wife was and she says it is one of her "favorite" memories from Grove City. So read on and see what Talby has in store for you today...

I want to thank Jay for letting me make a guest appearance on the Man Cave blog because I truly can see this blog going places!

In light of a recent purchase of mine I will be writing about Talby's incredible musical ability and his headlamp. There is a connection… I promise.
Many of you know, (and some of you may not ) that Talby is a very good guitar player.  Recently, I have made it a goal of mine to pick up and learn the guitar.  In learning, I recently went out and bought a guitar.  During the process of purchasing a guitar I referenced a true guitar connoisseur… Talby.  I must say that he has been a big help in this whole process, so I start this story with a minute of thanks for his help.
First, Talby has a coal miner-style headlamp and, aside from it being a weird thing to own, there is nothing special about it. Except for the way that he uses it.
While in college, I had the opportunity to go on mission trips to Guatemala with Talby and other friends.  Talby led worship for many of our pre-trip meetings and devotion time in Guatemala. His guitar playing abilities and vocals were such a blessing. But there was one particular night that turned an ordinary pre-trip meeting into a legendary tale. Yes, this was the night when the “Legend of the Talby Headlamp” was born.

Let me first begin by saying that, for those of you who know Talby, you know that he is quite the genius in his own mind.  He has many ideas and and they are always the best.  Well, Talby had one of those great ideas when he decided to “set the mood” during one of our pre-mission trip meetings. Talby decided he was going to shut off the lights and lead worship in a manner that everyone could worship in their own way and not worry about people judging them. Ahhh, “Great Idea Talby!” you say, but herein lies a great problem even for Talby.  How can one read his music in the dark?  Talby didn’t blink for a moment because he had A MINER STYLE HEADLAMP, OF COURSE!  So there he was with a headlamp strapped to his head at the front of a classroom in the Grove City College Hall of Arts and Letters with all of the lights out and 25 of his peers attempting to worship while trying to block out the idea that he had a headlamp strapped to his head so wherever he looked a beam of light would shine.

If you ask most people, this is a genius of an idea and a  great story.  But there is more.  A week later Andrew, Talby, and I were walking from our lower campus apartment to the classroom where we were going (about one mile) for another meeting. As we were walking up the stairs to enter the building 2 minutes before we were supposed to start the meeting that was beginning with Talby leading worship, Talby realized that he forgot the headlamp.  The response of Andrew and I, "don't worry about it we will be fine without it.". Immediately Aaron fired back letting us know that we would NOT be ok without it and that the headlamp was a key part of the worship time that we did at the beginning of every meeting.  Talby didn't think that there was any other way to worship.  So he handed the guitar to Andrew and took off running back to the apartment.

12 minutes later Talby came running back into the room, 10 minutes late for the meeting, sweating like crazy and breathing so heavy that he couldn't even sing.  But, the headlamp sure did make the worship awesome.

While you may be sitting there thinking that there is no lesson to be learned from this story, I assure you, there is.  Talby teaches us that great men have great ideas… in your own mind at least. And when you have an idea, you believe in it, stick to your guns, and follow through.  While other worship leaders use a standard lamp that clips to your music stand and has a swivel neck when the lights are out, Aaron teaches us that there is always a better way.  And the headlamp is clearly the way to go.  There is nothing better to set the mood (and get a few laughs).  But, hey, when you have a great idea and promise to shut the lights off for worship you always follow through if you want to be known as the one and only Talby!

"Wearing a headlamp while leading worship...... Brilliant!"

V-Day

I would like to remind all of my male readers that tomorrow is Valentines day. Yes, I know that you think the holiday is stupid and was created by Hallmark to make money, but I am sure that your significant other does not feel the same way. So make sure that you plan on doing something!

By the way, remember when valentines day was cool because you got to make homemade mailboxes for all of your classmates/ valentines. The coolest thing i did was make a giant paper mache hershey kiss! Anyways, I have work tomorrow night so I have somewhat of an excuse to not go all out. Liss and I are planning on catching a movie (the vow) and getting some coffee. While it is low-key, I know that this is what Lissa will enjoy. This will be my second cheesy romance movie this week. Lissa made me watch the Notebook this week. I really liked it.  Confession: When it comes to romance movies I always initially scoff but sometimes/most times I end up liking it. So stay tuned for my review of "The Vow." Happy Valentines Day to all, and get ready for Talby Tuesday tomorrow. Could it be a special valentines day edition?

"I will cause your name to be remembered in all Generations."

Good morning! I am able to write this morning because I am working nights at Chick-Fil-A and I thought that I would use this opportunity to catch up on some of my posts. Lucky for you. This morning I was reading Psalm 45 and I had a thought that I wanted to share. Verses 16-17 caught my attention: "In place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever." This particularly stood out to me because of a conversation that I had the other day with a man who does campus ministry in Virginia Beach. He shared with me how he and his team have had to think creatively on how to reach our generation because we are so different than the previous one. During our conversation we both agreed that it is a great comfort to know that no matter what is changing in our society or in the world, the power of the Gospel never changes.
I think we need this reminder because often times Christians can be guilty of having a pessimistic spirit about the world and the direction that things seem to be going. For some reason, when people think about the past they remember all the good things and forget about all the bad things. Therefore, their generation becomes the greatest generation or the Reformation is the golden age of Christianity. Don't get me wrong, there may be valid and truthful claims when people say such things. Today's America does seem more openly sinful in some areas than in the past. The Reformation was an age where God bestowed his spirit to bring about a true revival and for those things we can be thankful. I am just bothered when people see the society and the church of the past as this "high point" in history and succeeding generations as rebellious children. Sometimes it comes across as if the world were in a hopeless and irreversible tailspin. But are we hopeless? Are the effects of sin irreversible in our day? No. We still have the same Savior, the same gospel, and the same promises. Which is why I think that the root of this negative spirit is a lack of faith in the promises of God. In Psalm 45 God promises that in every generation he will cause his name to be remembered and that he will always raise up people to proclaim his truth. And he promises that his praises will resound from all of the nations. When i think about this I am filled anew with hope. If I cling to this promise with all of my heart and plead to the Father to be true to his word and cause his name to be praised, how can I despair? What reason do I have to believe that God will not cause his Gospel to flourish and for society to be positively impacted by its presence?
Now, I do not know what the future holds. Maybe the world will continue to get worse and worse. But even then we can still rejoice that God will be faithful to his promises. He will, in every nation, save sinners and bring them into his Kingdom. As long as the earth endures, Christ will be worshipped and praised by new believers. And if the world seems to be mired in darkness, it shall still never overcome the light. The flame of the Gospel shall never be put out. I think these verses ought to make us filled with joy and hope for the future: "In place of your fathers shall be your sons; you will make them princes in all the earth. I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations; therefore nations will praise you forever and ever."

Wedding reunions and Talby

    Another week goes by and yes another week where I forget to post anything between Talby Tuesday's. What is becoming of me... I am happy though because Talby Tuesday's is definitely not growing old with my viewers. On the contrary, more and more people are checking in to the man cave to read about and adore the matchless Talby. So what is in store or this week? I have a rather funny story for you (In my mind at least) that happened about a year ago when all of our friends got back together for  Chris' and Johanna's wedding. Once you graduate from college you obviously do not see your friends as much as you used to. There is no living together, eating together, or playing nintendo 64 together. Over the years friends lose contact and drift apart, but weddings are one thing that consistently brings everyone back together. Besides getting to celebrate the marriage of two of your friends, eating good food, and dancing; weddings provide a great opportunity to reminisce with your friends and catch up on what's been going on in each others lives. Which is exactly what happened when our friends got married in lovely Lancaster.

 Everyone was there for the weekend and we were all graciously invited to the rehearsal dinner. Over dinner we all shared stories from the past (again over half of them centered around Talby) and also talked about what was going on in the present. While Talby laughed heartily as we all told old tales, he was relatively silent about what he was up to in the present day. But then after about a year of not seeing Talby he decided to fill us in on the most exciting things that had happened in Delaware and all the new things he had experienced and learned upon leaving Grove City. So what did he share with us?  During a pause in the conversation and, entirely un-provoked, Talby added these words in a dead serious tone: "Bro (Talking to me and or Andrew) I've been super busy with meetings and stuff for work, so I've completely had to change the way that I eat." At this point the whole table had stopped talking and was focused on Talby: "Ya, i've really had to work on it but I've gotten super efficient at eating food. You'd be proud of me." Yes, the last year of Talby's life had been centered around and highlighted by how he had gotten better and faster at eating food. Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant. An awkward silence ensued (How do you respond to that) then I looked at Bro Andrew and we laughed so hard that tears rolled down our eyes. I don't know why it was so funny and I know that you definitely had to be there, but seriously how ridiculous!

Talby had a meeting this night: He blew out his candles and ate the cake in 30 seconds.

Oh, and this gets me thinking as well. If Talby is the master of eating food efficiently I may have an idea. If we add a bunch of stuff to Talby's schedule he will be forced to learn how to eat even faster! If we load him down with an incredible amount of work and tasks (Just imagine how fast he would have to eat!), I think he could become a serious contender for the 4th of July Nathan's hot-dog eating contest.

Watch out Kobayashi, you better hope Talby doesn't get any busier!