The Nashville Flood of 2010

I have never seen anything like this. Ever. Nashville is experiencing worse flooding than it has seen since the flood of 1979,

The National Guard has been called in to aid in flood relief. The government is strongly encouraging people to not leave their homes. Streets have become rivers that look like whitewater rapids. MTA buses are not running. Many church services have been canceled. As I write this, 48 roads have been closed in Nashville alone. As of this morning, more than 150 water rescues have been performed. More than 48,000 homes without power. Sadly, seven deaths have been confirmed in the area.

This video is from yesterday. It's worse today.



So far we are okay at our house and on our street. I am waiting for a break in the rain (and, more specifically, lightning) to get on a ladder and fix our gutter. We put a trash can under the gutter to catch water and it filled within a few minutes.

My band had a show in Illinois last night and, even though we got back around 4 in the morning, I'm happy that got home when we did because sections of most of the local interstates are now closed.

I will be posting pictures here from friends throughout the next couple days. Stay tuned.

"We Are The World" 2010

The new "We Are The World" will premiere February 12 on NBC's opening games of the Olympics. Proceeds from the new version, which includes a new hip hop verse written by the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am, will go to the relief effort in Haiti.

The artists for this version are a who's who of today's music including: Barbra Streisand, Celine Dion, Wyclef Jean, Harry Connick Jr., Kanye West, Miley Cyrus, Tony Bennett, Justin Bieber, P!nk, Patti Austin, Brian Wilson and Al Jardine, Carlos Santana, Josh Groban, Gladys Knight, The Jonas Brothers, Jennifer Hudson, Enrique Iglesias, Harry Connick Jr., Natalie Cole, Drake, LL Cool J, Bustah Rhymes, Heart, BeBe Winans, Jamie Foxx, Usher, will.i.am, Robin Thicke, Rob Thomas, Akon, Brandy, Keri Hilson, Zac Brown, Randy Jackson and Ryan Seacrest, Joel and Benji Madden (of Good Charlotte), Melanie Fiona, Drake, Jordin Sparks, Mya, Musiq Soulchild, Katharine McPhee, Orianthi, Trey Songz, Faith Evans, Sugarland, Jennifer Hudson, Jason Mraz, India.Arie, Mary Mary, Tyrese , Raphael Saadiq, Pink, Jordin Sparks, Rob Thomas, Usher, the Fray's Isaac Slade, Adam Levine, Nicole Scherzinger, Julianne Hough, Jeff Bridges, and yes...Vince Vaughn and Snoop Dogg.

Janet Jackson will sing Michael's part, which is nice.

Nepitism never hurts as Rashida Jones (the Parks & Rec and I Love You Man actress is Quincy's daughter) and Nicole Richie (Lionel's offspring) were also on hand.

I'm still trying scratching my head as to why Justin Bieber gets to sing the very first lines originally done by Lionel Richie. Not sure his voice is even deep enough to sing that part. Lil Wayne is doing the Bob Dylan part. No, seriously.

Some artists Quincy Jones, Lionel Richie and the others involved wanted, such as Beyoncé, Taylor Swift, Jay-Z, Justin Timberlake and Lady GaGa, were unable to attend due to scheduling conflicts. So, who else was not there? Let's see: Rihanna, Fergie, Britney, Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Mary J. Blige, Adam Lambert, Carrie Underwood, Keith Urban...hmm, who else? Leave comments!

If you're wondering where Mariah Carey was, she took part in a Haiti tribute Simon Cowell put together across the pond. Others involved included Leona Lewis, Rod Stewart, Robbie Williams, Cheryl Cole, Jon Bon Jovi, Michael Buble, Kylie Minogue, and Susan Boyle.

The song is a cover of R.E.M.'s "Everybody Hurts". Listen to that one here:

Louisville's 2009 Flood

Wow. Check out these pictures of Churchill Downs from Facebook.








Photos by John Asher.

Stormy Weather

Several tornadoes hit middle Tennessee today. Sumner County was hit especially hard. From what I've heard, two separate tornadoes formed into one in Goodlettsville and continued into Gallatin. Daphne's school (she's a teacher at Station Camp High School) was smack dab in the middle of the tornado in Gallatin. The tornado was headed directly for the school but somehow went right around it but never directly hit it. The sports fields around the school were hit (the goal posts ripped out of the ground) and the concession building was hit pretty bad. A couple dozen cars were hit. One of those happened to be Daphne's. The back window was smashed in and the back seat was soaked. All in all I'd say the school was completely lucky. Or blessed...look at the picture. The big white-ish blob is the school and the red represents the tornado path (although it was much wider).

So far eight people have been confirmed dead. 16,000 people are without power. The damage is catastrophic. My prayers go out to everyone involved.

I really need a digital camera.

So give me one...

Anyway, last night's Taize service for youth went well. I wish I had pictures but, well you get the point. It was not a traditional Taize service in that we had 6 prayer stations (man, I wish I had pictures), but it seemed to work really well.

It was scheduled for 9/11 for obvious reasons but ended up focusing on the hurricane. I regret deeply that we left out the one September 11 prayer station but it just wasn't working.

I always appreciate it when bloggers give the details of prayer stations but I'm too out of it to go over the details. Maybe later. Did I mention I wish I had pictures?

Hurricane Katrina Part 2

Well, it's not as funny now. That's for sure. It's still surreal to hear my sister's name used in the media the way it has. My favorite's have been:

• "You can blame Katrina for the rise in the price of gasoline."
• "Time is running out to get out of Katrina's way."
• "Katrina may have set oil rigs adrift."
• "Katrina could turn New Orleans into a giant cesspool."
• "She is a monster and her name is Katrina."

Okay...seriously, let's be in prayer for those in the hurricane's path.

To visit my sister Katrina's blog site (where she's noting the name weirdness also) go to the Katrina Coomer MySpace.

Hurricane Katrina

I heard the list of names for tropical storms months ago and had high hopes when they mentioned that one was Katrina. My sister's name is Katrina and I thought it would be a great thing if it became a huge storm so I could call my sister "the Hurricane".

Daphne and I couldn't help but laugh every single time they said Katrina's name during the news tonight. It was just so weird! "Katrina is bearing down on Florida." "Will Katrina put a stop to MTV's Video Music Awards?" "Katrina killed two people." Okay I guess that one wasn't really funny. We laughed anyway.

Like a movie

Okay. I'm in bed. So, I didn't lie. I went to bed.

Watching the news today it seems unfathomable to me that this thing even happened. I'm still not even sure how to spell tsunami. Is that right? Anyway, it's like an overblown Memorial Day Weekend movie. Deep Impact, Twister. This just doesn't feel real.

A friend from Blockbuster once told me that movie rentals of disaster movies actually increased the week of 9/11. I look at my queue on Netflix and see The Day After Tomorrow is coming up. I think I'll bump it back. I don't know.

I was at Blockbuster that day renting movies sometime the week after 9/11. Daphne and I needed an escape from the images we were seeing on television. A comedy would be a great escape. So, I rented Muppets Take Manhattan and Annie Hall. It wasn't until I got home that I realized the irony. In fact, it wasn't until I clearly saw the two towers in the Muppet movie that I realized the irony. I thought, maybe God doesn't want us to escape this right now.

The news anchors, even the ones reporting live from the wreckage in Asia, sound so cavalier when saying the death toll is climbing by the thousands daily. Have we become so anesthetized that nothing can feel real? Why do I not cry with the wails of the Easterners when I see the death and destruction-the absolute disparity of those amateur home videos of people holding on for dear life? Why do I not wail when I see the death and destruction this mindless war has brought?

Can I blame the numbness on the movies? How about video games? George Bush, Michael Moore, Marilyn Manson? When do I look to myself and say, "I need to do something"?

The Upper Room is a daily devotional that is usually found on the toilet of your average UM Church goer. I, like any good Methodist read my Upper Room from time to time. I never ceased to be amazed at the appropriateness of any given day's Prayer Focus or Thought for The Day. These devotionals are written as much as a year in advance from my understanding. On December 27, the day of the tsunami, the devotional was a story that had nothing to do with Christmas. I'm sure someone on staff at the Upper Room said, "we need something about the days following Christmas here people." But the story was about a minister in India and the prayer focus was "The Church in India". Read it here.

And that's what I do. I pray. I pray for the people, I pray for the families, I pray for the Church. I pray God uses this horrible atrocity for good. I am thankful for organizations like UMCOR and World Vision. Do what you can to support them.


If you have money, give here. Whether you do or not, pray. Click here for an excellent place to start.