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Posts Tagged ‘eddie daniels’

Mystery Food Identified!

July 27th, 2010 11 comments

EDDIE DANIELS – Yesterday I posted a blog about a mystery food lurking in the WJTL refrigerator. Without any evidence, I went ahead and accused Lisa Landis as being the culprit who left the baggie of UFO (Unidentified Food Object) and it turns out I was correct. Eat your heart out, Gwenda Gumshoe!

In a comment left on the blog, Lisa confessed to leaving them in the fridge and identified them as sugar plums.

Seriously? Sugar plums?

They exist?

I’ve never seen a real-life sugar plum. Actually, I’ve never seen a photo of one. Or a drawing, even. The only time I’ve ever heard of them is in the Christmas poem where the kids have “visions of sugar plums” dancing in their heads. But in all the books I used to see this poem in, the accompanying drawing reveals the kids are actually dreaming of candy canes.

So now I’m left with even more questions that I’m too lazy to Google on my own. Are sugar plums a natural food, or are they sweetened and man-made, like candied apples? Do you just eat them with your fingers? Do they have pits? Are they actually plums, or do they just happen to have plums in their name?

I’ll be honest, seeing as how this was my first encounter with sugar plums, it may have ruined me on them even before I’ve had the opportunity to taste them. Sorry sugar plums. I’m prejudiced against you now.

Lisa said I could throw away the sugar plums. So I did.

Eddie Daniels, Video Guy
eddie@wjtl.com

Name That Food

July 26th, 2010 18 comments

EDDIE DANIELS – It’s probably wrong of me to assume it was Lisa Landis who left this mystery food in the WJTL refrigerator. But since she’s on vacation this week and not here to defend herself, I’m going to do it anyhow.

Lisa is my prime suspect mostly because she has a history of bringing in random food items such as the one(s) pictured below. The only other person who uses the fridge on a regular basis is John, but he’s very good at making his usual sandwich, banana, and yogurt disappear during the lunch hour.

But my biggest concern isn’t who left these weird deep-red mystery items in an unsealed plastic bag. My concern is what are they? I haven’t bothered to smell them because I’m not that brave. They appear to be small plums. Or large cherries. Or beets. Or something else I haven’t thought of.

I’m also not sure why they are all three in different stages of decay. One seems perfectly round, one looks a little bruised, and the third looks downright smooshed.

Have a look. What do you think they are?

Eddie Daniels, Video Guy
eddie@wjtl.com

Jul 27 2010 – READ THE UPDATE ON THE MYSTERY FOOD HERE!

Gonna Fly Now

July 23rd, 2010 4 comments

EDDIE DANIELS – I freely admit I’ve been on a bit of a B. Reith kick lately. After getting the chance to hang out with him for a few minutes at Creation 2010, I remain impressed with how transparent he is.

After we got back and I put together the footage into a video interview, I did something I haven’t done in I-don’t-know how long: I sat down and gave his full-length album (“Now is Not Forever”) and his EP (The Forecast EP) a listen straight through. Every track, one after the other. I don’t think I’ve listened to a full album since I listened to music on cassette tapes.

I’m really impressed with the album and, again, taken with how transparent he is in his writing. He combines his sincerity with his quirky sense of humor, and it works. The beats and hooks are catchy and you don’t mind when they get stuck in your head for hours on end.

When we spoke with B. Reith at Creation, he told us he’d just finished filming a couple of music videos from his new project and this is one of them. Be warned, though: This video will make you wanna get out of your chair and go do something.

That’s probably a good thing.

Eddie Daniels, Video Guy
eddie@wjtl.com



VIDEO – The Classic Crime at Creation 2010

July 19th, 2010 1 comment

VIDEO – Bob Lenz at Creation 2010

July 16th, 2010 2 comments

VIDEO – Kristi Leigh on the Creation 2010 Main Stage

July 15th, 2010 2 comments

Those Colorful Musicians

July 2nd, 2010 1 comment

EDDIE DANIELS – I’m writing this blog from my hotel room after Day 3 of Creation 2010. The Creation Festival is a yearly music festival nestled in the mountains of Central Pennsylvania. The easiest way to describe it is to call it the “Christian Woodstock.” The radio station I work for goes up each year, we set up inside a trailer, and we try to get as many of the performing artists to pop in for an interview as possible. I’m always in charge of filming the interviews and then I spend the next few weeks at work editing them down and posting them on the station’s YouTube page.

This year we did something a little different. For those of you who don’t know, I enjoy drawing doodles. This year I doodled all of the artists appearing at the 4-day festival (43 of them in all). We compiled the black-and-white drawings into a collection we called the Creation Coloring book. Then, we brought the book with us and when the artists came through for their interview, we had them color and autograph their page in the coloring book. We’ll be posting the book on eBay and donating all the money received from the auction to Compassion International.

I gotta tell you, it’s been a blast so far. Not only has it been fun seeing the artists react to their doodle, but it’s also been fun hanging out with them for a few minutes. I’ve captured some really cool moments on video so far, and we still have one more day to go.

Here’s a brief rundown of some highlights the first few days:

  • We got to meet Carlos Whittaker, who’s just as much fun to be around in person as he is to read his blog.
  • We got a chance to hang out with our pal Bob Lenz, an amazing speaker who has one of the biggest hearts around(maybe because he’s also one of the biggest guys around)
  • As far as pure hilarious moments go, I never thought we’d be able to top David Crowder yelling out the trailer at a kid with “Jimmy” printed on his shirt. Chris and Conrad proved me wrong.
  • Mark Gungor, one of the most excited and excitable guys I’ve been around, gave some great insights into marriage that were so simple I was a little embarrassed I hadn’t thought of them already
  • We have a Wii with MarioKart in our trailer. It’s a nice break for the artists from the usual standard radio interviews they probably go through and it’s fun to see their faces light up when they see the Wii waiting to be played. Of all the bands at Creation, you probably wouldn’t have expected that the band who had the hardest time tearing themselves away from the Wii was Casting Crowns. True story.
  • DecembeRadio really seemed to enjoy their doodle and they were a lot of fun to joke and hang with
  • B Reith sat down and really took time to color his doodle while Kristi Leigh interviewed him. He said he would soon be switching his Facebook profile picture to his doodle. Nice!
  • Chris Tomlin was very kind and friendly and seemed to genuinely enjoy his time in the trailer.
  • Thi’sl and J’Son were simultaneously hilarious and moving. Watching them film each other with their iPhones as they colored their doodles was entertaining to say the least.
  • It was my first time meeting the guys from House of Heroes and it was worth the wait.
  • It was good to see Matt MacDonald from The Classic Crime once again and when he realized we were the guys from last year who had the Wii, his face lit up and he was ready to race once again.
  • Both We As Human and Abandon went all out coloring in their doodles and we were quite impressed with their style.

There was more, but…well…I’ll let you see for yourselves. Starting next week I’ll begin posting the videos of our time at Creation so you can see some of it for yourself. Unfortunately we weren’t able to catch up with the Newsboys or TobyMac or our old pal Trevor from Thousand Foot Krutch, but we’re having a good time.

When you see some of the videos, you’ll get what I’m talking about. Until then…well…here’s the David Crowder video from 2007 I mentioned earlier. The one where he yells at the kid with JIMMY on his shirt. Still cracks me up.

Video Vault: Before Creation Happens

June 24th, 2010 No comments

JUNE 2007 – Eddie takes a look around the Agape Farm before Creation begins

Happy Father’s Day, Dad!

June 20th, 2010 No comments

EDDIE DANIELS – Of all the guys I know in this world,  I feel it’s safe to say I probably know my Dad the best. After all, I’ve known him my entire life. I grew up with him and when I moved out of the house back in 1992 that didn’t mean I stopped learning from him. He’s still teaching me things to this day. A few weeks ago I was on the phone with him and I’m sure it made for an interesting picture: Me, on the couch, my wife Sarah snuggled next to me, the phone between us, just listening to Dad as he gave some of his insights on life.

That’s the way it’s always been with Dad. Even when I was younger, Dad was like my own personal E.F. Hutton: When he talked, I listened.

There are so many stories, so many memories, I don’t know where to start. So many different flashes are bouncing around in my noggin…Should I tell you about the time he broke his leg and, tired of having to wear a cast, decided to take the law into his own hands and sat on a bucket and began to cut it off with a hacksaw? What about the time an old lady called Dad in the middle of the night because she had a bat in her house and he went over there armed with his tennis racket? You get the point. I have a lot of stories about Dad.

There have been times when I see people on TV talking about their childhood, how they would have turned out better if their father had only told them that he loved them. Dad’s kids will never have that problem. On the phone the other day, he told me he loved me and then followed that up with “I know I don’t tell you that enough.” I didn’t let him go on. If there’s one thing Dad’s always done, he’s let us kids know how much he loves us. With every call, every time I see him, and in his actions and words growing up, there’s never been a moment where I didn’t think he loved us.

That loyalty and commitment is something that isn’t saved only for us, either. When Dad is your friend, you know there’s nothing he won’t do for you. There’s no one Dad cares for that doesn’t know he cares for them and he’ll do anything for them. If something happens to someone Dad cares for, he is the first one in line to help.

Dad fought in the Vietnam war and he has an AMAZING story. To say it was a life-changing experience is putting it mildly and it molded him into the man he is today. Dad saw a lot over there: life, death, blood, friendship, bravery, cowardice, and even heard The Voice of God. For the last few years, on Memorial Day he goes to a high school and shares his story and testimony of how he spoke with God lying next to a tree in Dak To. It’s very powerful and moving. One night when we were living in the Mojave Desert, I sat down with a tape recorder and interviewed Dad about his time in Vietnam. I later typed out the transcript. It’s 32 pages long and it still moves me to tears when I read it. I always told Dad I wanted to make it into a movie script, and he told me I could, but only if I played his role (something I’m a little too old to pull off now).

The other thing that I think of is, of course, boxing. Dad and his brothers grew up learning a lot and what he learned there he applied in his life: If you want something, you have to work at it. If you work at for it, you’ll appreciate it more. Dad has a long string of prizes and titles under his belt and nobody in school ever tried to pull the “my dad can beat up your dad” line on me. Dad has spent the last – wow, I don’t know, 40 years is it? – passing on what he’s learned to kids. He’s a coach now, and when you train under my Dad you know you’re not just learning about The Sweet Science. You’re learning about life. I don’t know how many times I’ve been approached by people who tell me they “used to go down to the club” and then proceed to tell me what kind of impact Dad had on their life.

Those are the things – the war, boxing, his loyalty – that everyone knows about Dad. But I love the little details, the little surprises, just as much. I remember as a child going into the basement and finding an old black case tucked away in a far corner. Inside was an old, broken down, accordion. Yep. Dad played the accordion as a kid. Who would have guessed? I also recall the image of Dad up in the Sierra Nevadas in the Mojave Desert, panning for gold. He would sit there for hours, just him and his tools, and come back with tiny nuggets of gold in a small glass jar. He loves to read and he loves to watch Clint Eastwood blow the bad guys away. He has an iPod he uses to listen to Johnny Cash and Hank Williams. He was a Sunday School teacher for years, and I remember as a young kid seeing how much he loved playing with not only me and my siblings, but all the kids in the neighborhood. Hearing him laugh as we all tried (unsuccessfully) to wrestle him to the ground. Little details and quirks about him that I love.

Dad has a Purple Heart and a Golden Gloves title. He’s received all kinds of awards, honors, medals, certificates, and special congratulations. But the title he holds most dear is “Dad.”

And you know what? He’s earned it.

Eddie Daniels, Video Guy
eddie@wjtl.com

WJTL’s Video Vault – My Radio Is Broke

June 17th, 2010 1 comment

June 2008

Fred Likes My Coffee

May 4th, 2010 1 comment

EDDIE DANIELS – Yesterday I presented you with Exhibit A in the case of Fred v. Love of Coffee.

Ladies and gentlemen of the court, I now present Exhibit B. I think you’ll agree the evidence is overwhelming: Fred likes coffee, and it makes for great video.


Eddie Daniels, Production Guy
eddie@wjtl.com