Luke’s Notebook

Well, this is the 30th of June — the last day of the sixth month of the year. 2004 is about halfway done, and that is extremely hard to believe!

For those following our softball team, our winning streak was halted at seven games as we lost last night, 8-2. We just couldn’t hit very well! Oh well… tomorrow, hopefully we’ll come back out and start up another winning streak.

I’m excited! On August 7th, Cardinals right fielder Reggie Sanders is going to come to Laderman Park in Belleville for the Sixth Annual Softball Classic! If you have never been to a Classic, you need to check it out! Reggie will be there to sign autographs, mingle with the crowd and possibly play some softball of his own. If not, he’ll be there to cheer us on as the Arndt family team takes on the community team. Seriously, the Classic is a lot of fun and, in my opinion, a perfect event to build a summer trip around! E-mail me if you want some more info.

Well, I need to get going as I’m putting this wedding video on a DVD. I’m nearly finished with this project!

This evening, we had a 6:30 softball game against Morning Wood. We won it in four innings by the score of 25-7. Our team, Safe At Home, walked 16 times in those four innings, so that contributed very largely in part to the finaly score. I had a pretty good day at the plate, going 3-3 with a triple, two singles and a walk of my own. That makes us 8-3 on Monday nights, and we currently own the top spot out of the eight men’s teams that play on Mondays. Let’s hope we can make it eight straight tomorrow night!

Well, this afternoon, the seven oldest (minus Paul) drove two hours north to Springfield in order to interview a Christian parody band, ApologetiX. They performed at a festival held at a church in Springfield, and Mark had arranged an interview with them. It went wonderfully!

We talked with the lead singer, J. Jackson, for a while, and also got a great interview with the band’s drummer, Bill. I also videotaped the concert, which was loud! Of Course, I was right by a massive speaker, so that kind of explains it! I’m steadily regaining my hearing, though.

Some of the songs they performed (and their originals) on-stage tonight were:

We’re In A Parody Band (We’re An American Band)

Lifestyles of the Rich and Nameless (Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous - Good Charlotte)

Look Yourself (Lose Yourself - Eminem)

Smooth Grandmama (Smooth Criminal - Alien Ant Farm)

Those were some of the best, though they played around 12 or 13 songs in all. They do an amazing job with their parodies, though. If you visit http://www.apologetix.com, you can find out all about them, buy CDs, and you can even download some free MP3s from their site! So check it out.

After the concert, John, Mark, Jude, James, Philip and I stopped at a Denny’s in Springfield and ate a late supper. I had a hamburger with fries.

That’s all for now, folks. It’s getting late and there’s a lot to be done! Adios.

P.S. The interviews along with some concert footage should be available on www.famteam.com in the next week or two.

Dad, Paul and I are getting ready to travel to the Muny in St. Louis to catch a performance of “Meet Me In St. Louis.” Of course, the play is based on the World’s Fair of 1904, which was held in that very town. It should be a lot of fun! The rest of the family is already there, and in a little bit we’ll head over to join them on this beautiful summer evening.

Tomorrow is also going to be an interesting day! There’s a very special trip me and a few of my brothers are making up to Springfield! Stay tuned for more info…

We won again last night, beating a team called Whistle Stop by the score of 13-3. Paul hit a grand slam, and I followed him with a solo inside-the-park home run. It’s my second inside-the-parker this week. I guess sometimes I use power; sometimes speed. Anyway, that makes six straight wins for us! It’s very encouraging that we’ve been playing much better lately.

I spent this morning working on printing and binding a 280-page deposition that they attorneys needed ASAP. Between Mark and I, we managed to scope the depo within a couple of days, and Dad went over it yesterday and today, finishing it in the morning so I could print it and bind it. This was a highly technical deposition — all about coal dust and different chemical elements and so forth — but work is work! God just provides in so many different ways.

Well, I have some miscellaneous things to catch up on now that the rushing is finished! First order of business — I need to update the latest episode of The Attic at http://www.famteam.com/familyroom/attic.php. Paul and Jude recorded an installment today, so I’m putting that up.

Today, my grandparents (Mom’s parents) came over to have dinner with us. Grandpa fried fish that we caught from our very own pond, and they were delicious! I’m not a big fish eater, but these blue gills were scrumptious! Included in the meal was broccoli and corn on the cob. And what better for dessert than cherry cheesecake? It was very tasty. I hope we fry stuff more often.

Well, I need to get to scoping. We have a huge deposition (280+ pages) that we’re trying to have finished by tomorrow, so Mark and I have some extra scoping to do. Ah well… back to work!

I’m just about to head off to bed, since it is super late and I am super tired. I’m just making myself give an update on today’s 6:30 game. We won by a score of 9-5. It was a rather low-scoring affair, but we’re just happy to win our fifth game in a row! It’s very encouraging. Here are our records for the three nights:

Monday: 7-3

Tuesday: 3-7

Thursday: 4-4

Let’s see if we can make that 5-4 when Thursday rolls around!

We won yesterday’s softball game by a score of 17-7. We “10-run-ruled” the other team, so the game only went five innings. In those five innings, though, I managed three at-bats and had two hits — including an inside-the-park home run! Most of the time I rely on power instead of speed for a home run, but the left-center fielder was playing very shallow, and I just hit a line drive over his head, which gave me enough time to circle the bases. The whole team just played awesome, though. Everybody was hitting line drives, and we just pretty much dominated on offense. It’s a great feeling when everyone pitches in!

That makes four straight wins for us! We play tonight at 6:30 as we try to make that five.

Well, summer has officially begun! Though it’s pretty mild outside, due to the fact we’ve had a bit of rain lately. I’m wondering if our 8:30 softball game tonight will be still on. I’m going to guess yes, since right now the sun is out and it hasn’t rained that hard.

I have been editing the video of Matt and Becky’s wedding, and I think it has turned out really nice. I was able to mix together two camera angles — my camera and then a stationary one up on the balcony. The sound picked up really well, too, with the organ’s music coming in very well. I’m pretty much finished editing the wedding video, and now it’s time to take care of the reception footage.

Matt and Becky are going to Jamaica for their honeymoon, so hopefully I can have these videos all edited and put into a nice little package on DVD by the time they return!

That’s it for now, folks. Let’s hope tonight’s softball game is on.

Yes, yes, yes! I’m very sleepy.

This afternoon, I videotaped the wedding and reception of my cousin Becky and her new husband, Matt. Both went well, and we had a lot of fun at the reception. Maybe I’ll be able to post more about it soon. Until then, congrats, Matt and Becky! God bless your marriage!