the unlikely orange

last night we carved pumpkins here at the milinovich house, after a nice dinner of pumpkin pasta (thank you, crafty p) and some homemade pumpkin ice cream. we had a great time getting our hands gooey in the pumpkin guts and carving out some fun shapes. here are a few pics and a video to show you the fun we had. happy halloween!

i sold this collage and another today off my etsy site . that means i've sold 15 collages since i decided to try and see if there would be any interest out there in some guy's productions of glued paper. it is still hard for me to believe that anyone would really want one of these, but it certainly is affirming to see that some people, apparently, do. its been fun seeing how other people react to my art, the questions they ask, and the things they are drawn to. at this point in my journey i continue to feel this deep-down-in-my-soul-need to glue bits of paper together and turn them into something that would never have otherwise been, and so i keep making these collages. "the reaching" paper collage on cardboard panel gregory a. milinovich

let me draw your attention to the poll on the left hand side of my blog. over the last several weeks i have run many different polls and it appears that the majority of you feel that obama would be better than mccain at such things as wii, hungry hippos, hair-dressing, health-teaching, and so on. in part i have been running these polls just to bring some levity to an otherwise harsh and, at times, painful campaign season, as if asking which candidate is the better hungry hippos player has any meaning whatsoever. it doesn't. i don't need a president who can eat more hot dogs than the other guy. what we need, i think, is a president who can lead with clarity and conviction and integrity. we need a person who models a leadership that serves others rather than expecting to be served. we need a leader who is willing to take some risks, including the great risk of being honest. i don't know if either one of these men is that guy, but in less than a week we will elect one ...

while it remains october on the calendar, the weather around here seems to be a bit confused. these pictures are from my house yesterday. that's right. october 28th. some areas around us had about 4 inches! holy crap. check out the great pics at the bottom of shannon and cade catching snow flakes in their mouths. priceless.

note: this is my 500th post! yay for me! shannon and i had the awesome opportunity to see coldplay in concert in east rutherford, new jersey the night before last, and for any of my readers who like coldplay who will not get to see them on this tour, i thought i'd write it up for you. basically, it was fantastic. they started off with life in technicolor , an instrumental piece, and the first track on their new album. they had these huge black semi-transparent drapes hanging in front of them during this song, and the band stayed mostly together in a small tight group around the drums. that in itself was one of my favorite parts of the show: they really seemed like a group of guys who likes each other. i mean, i could be totally wrong about that, but they appeared to genuinely enjoy one another. i remember seeing u2 several years ago in philly and, while loving the concert, having the distinct feeling that it was a band of individuals who somehow made things work. this was a ve...

the steelers lost yesterday. to the stinkin' new york giants, which is pretty much the favored team around here, so i have to hear it for awhile. blah. plus, i'm super exhausted from being out late last night at the coldplay concert, which means i'm not emotionally capable of dealing with this loss. basically, i didn't think they would win, and they didn't, so there you go. next week is the redskins on monday night, and we just have to try and make sure we have enough players to field a team by then, since most of our starters seem to be pretty significantly hurt. i'll write about coldplay tomorrow. it was awesome.

go steelers! beat the giants!

well, well. these blokes here on the left, who appear to be looking rather intently into the brightness of my words (hence the sunglasses) are the four guys who comprise the band 'coldplay.' why are they here right now, looking at my blog? well, because shannon and i are going to be seeing them in concert this weekend (sunday night, to be exact), and we are very VERY much looking forward to it. their newest album has been out for over four months now, and the last thing anyone really needs is another review of it, but as i feel myself getting more and more psyched for this show, i need to write about this music, so here goes... released june 17 of this year, "viva la vida, or, death and all his friends" is, in my opinion, a very good album. not great. but very good. the album starts with a long instrumental piece, which is usually a complete deathwish for a pop album in my opinion, but this one works. it sends a signal to the 'rush of blood to the head' crowd...

awww yeeeaaaahhh. check out that little boy scout. this picture is totally rad, and taken near the beginning of my 14-year "awkward stage." dad was the troop chaplain, and i think i made it all the way to the rank of second class. that sounds about right....a second class scout. this was taken in waynesburg, pennsylvania, where i grew up until i was 12. i was probably 11 or so in this picture. one more thought: why don't i incorporate striped scarves more in my wardrobe? i mean, that's a hot look, don't you think? i could just wear a button up shirt and then wear a 'fashion accessory' (fancy term for scarf) with some kind of brooch or something to tie it all together. i think i need to bring it back, baby. bring it back.

one of the characteristics of a milinovich male is the ability to perform a variety of gymnastic with one's eyebrows. truly, milinovich men have crazy eyebrows. here is a video that shows jack trying to live up to his name with some eyebrow movement of his own. enjoy...

all you laypeople out there, stop reading. if you are a clergy person, you will be very familiar with what i am about to say, but if not, if you are a layperson, you may just want to surf on over to someone else's blog right now, because i'm about to be all vulnerable and stuff. here's the thing: sometimes, as a pastor, it is easy to substitute religion for relationship. let me much more specific. it is easy to allow study of the scripture and prayer to become a job and not a joy. it is easy to fall into a pattern or routine where all my scripture reading is sermon preparation (because i have to) and all my praying is obligatory and even public. in such a pattern, a relationship with God is soon replaced by a religious regimen. i know people don't want to believe that this could possibly be true of pastors, but i told you to stop reading up there (see above). are you still with me? okay. so i was on a men's retreat with my church this weekend, and it was...

well, i had hoped for a dominating performance by the steelers yesterday, and i didn't really get it, so while i am very satisfied with another victory, i am disappointed about the way the steelers failed to dominate the game. they started off strong, going up 10-0, and looking like they were going to control the game the way i had hoped. but then they faltered. they just allowed the bengals to hang around. maybe they were 'playing down' to their opponent, as teams will often do, but it was very frustrating, to be sure. frustrating, that is, until the fourth quarter, when the steelers flexed their muscles, scoring 21 minutes in the final period. a few highlights: limas sweed caught his first pass...mewelde moore, picked up in the offseason from the minnesota vikings' trash heap, scored three touchdowns and ran for 120 yards...hines ward, my favorite player ever, who has been fined recently by the nfl for playing the game the way he has always played - tough - h...

look, i don't want to 'pile on' the cincinnati bengals here, because it is just way too easy, but i simply googled the words "winless nfl team" and this picture popped up. that's pretty much all i need to say. the steelers will travel to cincy tomorrow to play the bengals, where the steelers have won the last 6 in a row. the bengals best player (with all apologies to the freak show who wants to be called ocho cinco), carson palmer, is out. harvard alum ryan fitzpatrick will be starting as the bengals quarterback, although i doubt he'll be finishing, after mr. harrison and mr. woodley introduce themselves to him in the bengals backfield. i know i sound cocky here, but i am looking for the steelers to dominate. i know the bengals have played relatively well (at least better than their record indicates), and they could give pittsburgh alot of trouble, but the steelers need to own this game. if the steelers are really a dominant force to be reckoned wit...

here is a collage/assemblage that i've been working on for quite some time and finally finished yesterday. it is made with bottle caps with circles of paper glued inside them. it was quite a bit of work to make, but i'm pretty happy with the result. here is a picture of the whole thing, including the frame. below are some closeups of the piece. "bottlecaps: moody look" mixed media assemblage gregory a. milinovich

this weekend is my 10-year college reunion, which i won't be going to, but i thought for a throwback thursday pic this week, i would show you a picture that typifies me in college. notice the following: +uniform wardrobe color (i wore orange nearly every day in college) +fashion accessory (guitar) (unfortunately, the guitar has never been much more than that for me) +the fake tattoo on my arm, which my friend christina drew. being a pretty sheltered kid and all, that was about the extent of my rebellion in college - a fake tattoo that said 'jesus loves you.' crazy. its hard to believe i've been out of college for 10 years now, but it is true, whether i believe it or not. i'm getting old.

a woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. she lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. she shouted to him, 'excuse me, can you help me? i promised a friend i would meet him an hour ago, but i don't know where i am. ' the man consulted his portable GPS and replied, 'you're in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above a ground elevation of 2346 feet above sea level. you are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude. ' she rolled her eyes and said, 'you must be a republican. ' 'i am,' replied the man. 'how did you know?' 'well,' answered the balloonist, 'everything you told me is technically correct, but I have no idea what to do with your information, and i'm still lost. frankly, you've not been much help to me.' the man smiled and responded, 'you must be a democrat. ' 'i am,' replied the balloonist. 'how did you know?...

shhhhh. listen. can you hear it? what's that you say? you don't hear anything? exactly ! isn't it beautiful, all that absence of noise? recent events have allowed me to experience the sound of silence once again in my garage. what happened? i finally unplugged the bloody rock tumbler. that's right. you might remember me writing about the rock tumbler several weeks ago. i wrote about how, in a culture of instant-everythings, we need to sometimes take a rock tumbler view of life. we need to slow down and understand the processes that are occuring in our lives. that's all well and good, and i still feel that way, but if every process is going to be as loud and perpetually obnoxious as this one, i'll just pass, thank you very much. sign me up to join the ranks of instantaneous everything. i just about couldn't take it any more. i mean, they make silencers for guns, right? (or is that just in tv shows? i know very little about guns.) how hard would it be to make...

can i get an uninhibited "heck yeah!" for unleaded? only $2.97/gallon at the local gas station yesterday. we should take good news wherever we can find it!

this weekend some friends of ours ,matt and megan and their daughters, came to visit us, which was great. we took the day on saturday to head into new york city. we drove to weehawkin, took the ferry over to 39th street, and then the bus to times square, where we took the kids to toys-r-us. from there we grabbed lunch at a less-than-stellar deli, then took the subway up to central park, where we visited the central park zoo. we had a great day in the city, aided by some of the best weather you could possibly imagine. as i've written here many times before, i love new york city. when i go there, even though i am often 'mr. intense,' because i'm trying to make sure everyone sticks together and gets where they need to go, etc., i am also very content. i love being there. i love the smells and sounds. i love the way the wind cuts through the streets. i love the way life bursts forth in every crack and crevice. i love the variety of people who call the place home. ...

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apparently, our son has been learning the pledge of allegiance, unbeknownst to me, which is pretty cool. what's even cooler is that i discovered him saying it to a steeler flag, which made me very proud. ha! plus, i love that he is offering liberty to God. i hope that God appreciates it. enjoy...

"tree of life" mixed media collage on cardboard panel gregory a. milinovich here's a collage i started a long time ago, and finally finished yesterday. for anyone interested in technique, i used wallpaper paste to glue this together. the back is painted with a special paint treatment with acrylic paints. then i collaged on top of it with the wallpaper paste, then finished it with a glue finish over all of it.

"there's blood down here...and sunlight, too" mixed media collage on art paper gregory a. milinovich this collage is just my way of saying that while sometimes the bad news of the world is stifling, there is always hope. there is always hope. no matter how cynical i get about the politicans; no matter how many points the dow drops; no matter how far the greed of people and corporations goes; no matter how bleak the future seems, there is always hope. and my hope is not just wishes or fanciful dreams, but based in the belief that Jesus Christ became the ultimate brokenness so that he can redeem the brokenness of this world. and so, yes, there's blood down here. sometimes it seems like the blood is all over the place. but there's sunlight, too. and it tells us of a coming kingdom, a coming wholeness, a day when there will be no more war over oil, no more fighting over money, and no more hunger while others live in obscene excess. may you find ways to clin...

25,000 visits to this blog since i've started keeping track of such stuff! thanks to all my readers for reading and commenting and coming back even after i annoy you/gross you out/confuse you/frustrate you/etc.

in reference to tonight's debates, i thought i'd share this joke that a friend sent to me yesterday: A cannibal was walking through the jungle and came upon a restaurant operated by a fellow cannibal. Feeling somewhat hungry, he sat down and looked over the menu. + Tourist: $5 + Broiled Missionary: $10.00 + Fried Explorer: $15.00 + Baked Democrat or Grilled Republican: $100.00 The cannibal called the waiter over and asked, "Why such a price difference for the Politician?" The cook replied, "Have you ever tried to clean one? They're so full of crap it takes all day!"

as evidence that kids do indeed say the darndest things, i share with you the following conversation from our dinner table: jack: dinosaurs used to roam the earth . me: i know. who roams the earth now? jack: us. me: right. jack: all the dinosaurs are dead now. they are just bones. me: that's right. that's because they are extinct. jack: who stinked them?

this is why i love music so much. driving home from a meeting tonight, i had what you would have to call a religious experience, while listening to this song. i was moved to tears, driving home in the dark. sometimes, as a pastor, working in the minutia of ministry, it is easy to lose sight of the bigger picture. after a meeting of budget and batteries, schedules and styles, i just heard this song coming out of my ipod, and i lost it. its by steve earle, a singer songwriter who has always been a bit of a prophet and a modern day john the baptist. but just hearing him sing these words in his signature draw drew me right to the core of why i do what i do: a vision of the kingdom. you can hear the song above. here's the words: Steve's Hammer (For Pete) One of these days I’m gonna lay this hammer down And I won’t have to drag this weight around When there ain’t no hunger And there ain’t no pain Then I won’t have to swing this thing One of these day I’m gonna lay this hammer...

well, after last monday's game against the ravens, when the steelers' locker room turned into a hospital; and after a short work week; after so many injuries and starters out for the game; after ben barely practiced all week and players didn't wear full pads; after the way the jags owned us last year, twice; after all that, i wasn't at all confident about going down to jacksonville and coming out with a win. but that's exactly what we did. great defense (other than some questionable play in the secondary - i'm not sure townsend is completely healthy). great job by alot of backups. great job by the receivers getting open. great job by the line, especially on run blocking. great job by the coaching staff who clearly made the right decisions all week about how to handle practice, and then how to play this team. but most of all, great game by ben. i still wish he wouldn't hold the ball so long so he could avoid a couple of those sacks, but man he playe...

last night was our october installment of my monthly film discussion group, Reel Life: discussions on film and faith. as you can tell from the picture on the left, we watched and discussed the film "lars and the real girl." we had a great turnout (about 25 folks), and the film really gave us something to talk about. ..... i remember when i first saw the trailer for this film, and i was, quite honestly, annoyed that people were making a film like this. the premise involves a young man, who, for lack of ability to have a real girlfriend, orders an anatomically correct "love doll" from the in ternet and begins treating her as a real person. hence the title. i remember that i thought this was going to be another trashy movie, exploiting the general movie-viewing public's love of lewd and cheap sexual humor. i thought lars would be a character who was mocked and used for some cheap laughs. in short, i wrote this film off as another bit of trashy entertainment....

"the paper anniversary" paper collage on cardboard panel gregory a. milinovich i broke my finger this summer. my ring finger. on my left hand. fortunately, i had just taken off my wedding band, as i was playing football in a lake, and one of the guys i was playing with lost his. so i took mine off and on the very next pass, i broke my finger. that was in july. it is now october, and while my finger doesn't really hurt anymore, it bears the evidence of being broken. i used to be ring size 8 1/4. i just got measured the other day and i'm now an 11 3/4. so i clearly haven't put on my wedding ring since that that day in the lake. i have been hoping that somehow my finger would shrink back to its normal size, but alas, that has not happened so i finally decided to take my ring to the jewelry store to see if they can stretch it. i told shannon i was going, and she said i might as well take her engagement ring, too, since some of the prongs needed some work. so i took t...

ji've got to share these pics with you. but before you take a peek, two things. first, i am continually amazed at the things that get lodged into the brain of a toddler. i mean, they don't just remember words that you don't want them to, but they remember situations and experiences, often in vivid detail, and, hilariously, often from their own misinformed persepective. but the most fascinating thing about this (and perhaps a bit scary, too) is that as a parent you cannot control this. you cannot control what gets imprinted on your children's memory. not only that, but you can't even know what all has been imprinted there. what they saw on tv, or what the babysitter said, or whatever. all these words and pictures and situations come crashing in on them with very little context and they are constantly working hard to organize them and try to make sense of them. and we wonder why toddlers ask so many questions. secondly, a few weeks ago we decided to go to on...