Go to the blog, you sluggard

You now must go to the new and improved Jon Swerens web site. Click anywhere in this post to see it!

My new blog!

In an effort to consolidate my blog and my web site, I'm building a new blog over at jonswerens.com.

I still have a good amount of work to do over there, but it'll allow me to concentrate on one web site, rather than two.

Check it out at www.jonswerens.com/blog!

Award-winning photo!

This photo won us a pizza! Mary sent it to a local TV station, and they chose it as their Sunday Snapshot and put it on the air!

Click here to see all of our sledding photos.

Jiggin' my tunes

A neat new online service called iJigg lets people upload their own music and then easily share it.

Here are a couple of songs from my CD, "Wordlessly." Enjoy!

Next gig: March 23

And here's the poster, suitable for framing.

UPDATE: Now, why in the world did I put "piano folk" on the poster instead of "folk piano"?

"Yup, we're pianah folks! Garsh!"

Look for an update soon.

UPDATE: Updated!

No gig tonight after all

Well. The manager of the cafe at The Anchor Room told me this morning that he accidentally double-booked again. So that means I am bumped from the schedule tonight.

Sorry if you were planning to come out. There's really no excuse forthcoming from The Anchor Room, except that they goofed.

Please remember me in March!

Listen to 14 "Wordlessly" songs

Now you can listen to all 14 songs from my recent instrumental album, "Wordlessly." Plus, you can still download two songs free of charge.

Just go to my downloads page. Be sure to set your browser to allow popups.

When you're done, you're welcome to buy a CD or buy downloads from iTunes!

Buy from iTunes:

Each song is 99 cents, or you can download the entire CD for $9.99. Click on the button below to find my album on iTunes, if you have iTunes installed.

Click below to download iTunes, which is free and available for both PCs and Macs.



Buy a CD:

Wordlessly is $14 a CD. If shipping is necessary, it's $2 for 1 or 2 CDs and free for 3 or more.

Go to my online store to purchase!

Play the Super Bowl in Fort Wayne!

As Indianapolis Colts Coach Tony Dungy said after Sunday's heart-stopping game:

It's a shame we have to go to Miami. We should just go to Fort Wayne and play it off there.

Woo hoo! Fort Wayne, home of Super Bowl XLI!

Fort Wayne: Most affordable city in six countries

That's right: Countries, not counties.

A study done by the Frontier Centre for Public Policy ranks Fort Wayne as the most affordable city for housing among the countries of the United States, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and the United Kingdom. This is extraordinarily good news for Fort Wayne.

Get the rest from Fort Wayne Observed.

PLUS: My friend Scott has posted a JPG of the rankings.

Today's math lesson

From the Swerens homeskool:

New gigs for 2007!

I've arranged with The Anchor Room (not this Anchor Room) to perform there five times in 2007. Here are the dates:

• Friday, January 26
• Friday, March 23
• Friday, June 15
• Friday, August 17
• Friday, November 30

More details and directions are on my engagements page. Hope to see you there sometime!

Apologies for ugliness

I've just converted this blog to some sort of new layout thing that Blogger is doing. All that means is that I need to reconstruct some elements in the sidebar, and stuff like that.

So, sorry if this page is a bit ugly for a while.

What I didn't get for Christmas

OK, it's not the worst case of Jesus Junk I've read about, but this review of the Left Behind: Eternal Forces video game puts it in the Top Ten.

It's a real-time strategy game, but, as the game's web site FAQ says: "The difference is that our game features fictional battles set on the stage of an apocalyptic world. Our game includes no intestines, no blood spatter, no severed limbs, no vulgar language, no sexual conduct, no morally reprehensible conduct – such as cop-killing, prostitute-bashing, or other criminal behavior ..."

An excerpt of Kamp Krusty review:

Does Left Behind: Eternal Forces let you kill people?

Yes. But only in self-defense.

With a tank?

Yes.

But you're protecting others, so it's morally good, then.

No, it costs you Spirituality Points. It's still bad. But sometimes, you have to kill bad guys, but it's still morally bad, but you should do it sometimes, but it's morally bad, but sometimes you just have to, you know? But it's bad.

Hat tip: Letters from Kamp Krusty

Sundry links and excess bloggage

Here's what I've been looking at on the Internet lately:

• Someone's mocking, Lord, kumbayah! Why is "Kumbaya" the designated silly-song to represent phony or ineffectual friendliness? Hat tip: Get Religion
• Why Christians should love "Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip": This article's kinda old, but still explains why I'm stuck watching the show every Monday.
• Where's my invitation? I missed the monthly Fort Wayne "geek dinner".
• Fun and challenging and semi-educational, too -- Whizzball!

Our trip to Chicago: Day One

Hi! Hey, you can check out photos from the first day of our family's recent trip to Chicago at my Shutterfly page.

Pictured at right: Street view of the Sears Tower.

New 'River' lyrics

It's been quite a while since I've posted anything, but November is Birthday Month here at the Swerens household, as some of you know. So we've been busybusybusy with birthdays for Sarita and Caleb plus that surprise party for Mary.

She was surprised.

But here, I want to post the new lyrics for my song "River." Thanks to the ministrations of my dear Mary and of the fellow songwriters who met at Mimi Burns' place the other night, I've amended the lyrics. And here they are:

River
By Jon Swerens

River, you carve the valleys in two
River, you bring new life into view
River, you prove your promises true
River, o River

River, an island stands in your way
River, you simply wear it away
River, even the rocks must obey
River, o River

CHORUS:
Flood my walls and flood my ceilings
Flood my reckless thoughts and feelings
Soak me through like laundry in the rain
Flood my cellars, flood my rafters
Flood all my befores and afters
Leave no place where dryness can remain

River, bleach me whiter than snow
River, until my heart overflows
River, take me wherever you go
River, o River

CHORUS

River, sweep me far from this place
River, to an ocean of grace
River, where I can look on your face
River, o River

©2006 Jon Swerens

Best local campaign ad

In honor of election day, listen to this short radio ad put on the air by a local candidate:

That's John McGauley, who's getting my vote.

Free music (and good, too)

Now here's a deal for you, and there are very few strings attached. A talented Christian folk-pop singer by the name of Derek Webb -- formerly of Caedmon's Call -- is offering his new album, Mockingbird, for free.

Why? He simply wants to make sure people can listen and take part in the conversation he's starting. As he says on his site:

one of the things that excites me most about the future of our business is how easy it is becoming to deliver music to people who want to hear it. i heard a story once about keith green caring so much that people were able to hear and engage with his music that he gave it away for free, which was a very difficult and expensive thing to do at that time. it's actually never been as simple as it is today to connect music with music fans. and i want people to have a chance to listen to mockingbird and engage in the conversation.

The catch? You just have to list five emails of friends who you think may also be interested. That's all.

So, if you have five friends (heh heh!), click on the little birdie link to the right or just go to freederekwebb.com.

PLUS! Perhaps you've heard me mention and rave about Andrew Peterson. Well, he's set up a place online where you can listen to two entire albums free. He's not giving them away, but it's a great way to try before you buy.

Click on the following links to listen to 'em!

The Far Country
Behold the Lamb of God (his Chriatmas album)

Off to Angola

Well, we'll be leaving for the gig up in Angola in a little bit. If you want to join us, we'll be at Cahoots Coffee Cafe, at 218 W. Maumee Street right in Angola.

Thanks for your support! And northern Indiana fans: Hope to see you there!

Diagnosis ...

Went to the doctor because of my cough. I've had it for a few weeks.

He look in my throat and listen to my lungs and, before a minute was up, diagnosed bronchopneumonia.

Not as fun as a broncoburger, I'll have you know.

So now, big time medicine for me, including horse-pill antibiotics and stupor-inducing cough medicine.

But I should be better in a few days.