Dreams Unlocked

Good-bye. James Gandolfini 1961-2013 James Gandolfini died recently. The heavy set actor will forever be married in our minds to the character of Tony Soprano, the New Jersey crime boss who struggled with panic attacks while trying to manage his place in his mafia family, along with his own family. The Sopranos marked a shift in American television. Episodes were very carefully written. Characters took entire seasons to fully flesh out. Hints of greatness that had been previously seen on shows like Hill Street Blues and NYPD Blue had now come to full fruition. It marked the beginning of many similar series: Deadwood, Dexter, Breaking Bad, the Shield, The Wire, Mad Men. These all became very well produced, directed and written tv shows. This new wave brought with it a new level of darkness in subject matter, previously reserved for R rated films. And it also high-lighted a male character I call "The Flawed Man". Tony Soprano made his living by breaking the la...

Things start to be coming together as our morphing away from Canadian West Coast people to upstate New York college town people. I bought a car, got approved for a mortgage and got my NY drivers license, all in 3 days. Driving around with NY license plates makes me feel more like a local. Working Its been a long time since I've worked in an office that wasn't attached to where I lived. The last time was 7 years ago, when I worked at First Baptist in Vancouver. And even then, I walked 8 blocks from our apt. to work. Now, I commute! Granted, its a 5-7 minute scenic drive through leafy country roads with virtually no other cars in site. So, I drive to work and I work in an office. At the age of 42, I am beginning to feel more grown up - should have happened 12 years ago. At work, I am trying to balance out behind the scenes program development with actual real inter-personal ministry. So far, so good. I don't want to get fossilized in my office, writing serm...