LOCKER ROOM UPDATE

 

 

 

As you can see the walls have paint and most of the benches are in place. The paint still needs some touch-ups, but the room is looking better than expected. All though you can't tell now, the grey sections that you see in the picture we had painted an orange/yellow colour. When we were done the room looked like the Edmonton Oilers dressing room. Needless to say the orange/yellow didn't last 24 hours.(Now I think we have a Dallas Cowboys look going on.) Ted, Owen, Jeremy and I worked Friday and Saturday night. Dan showed up late Saturday night. Owen, Dan, Jeremy and I worked long hours again today.(Sunday) One more week and the room should be functional. The floor, trim, trophy case and the murals on the wall will all probably take some time but at least we can see the finish line. Hope you like what we have done, this is for you!

THE CAPTAIN

THE NIGHT AFTER

 

So it is the night after Battalion and time to let you in on what went down at 3739. This year at Battalion we are studying 1&2Timothy and Titus, so this week we looked at both these men and how their personalities differed. Timothy was more timid and needed a lot of encouragement to keep working for God.(Paul tells Timothy more than once to "fight the good fight" and to "endure hardship")Titus was very differant, he was more aggressive and would have needed encouragement to be gentle. The point was that God wants to use us for his purpose, it doesn't matter what our personality is like. After squad meetings we played football in the gym.(We need to sharpen our football skills before the Director's Cup) The game was awesome, the Fonz dominated, he had three picks and a touchdown! Chris and Cody were battling in the trenches, they were knocking each other down, it was sweet! The game ended in a tie, which I geuss was fitting because neither offence was able to move the ball. The night ended the way it always ends, with Bulldog. Sam Schiesser got his first helmet win of the year, way to go Sam!(I took a picture but when I got home it wasn't on my camera, sorry.) As you can see from the pics Jeremy spent the night sanding the locker room. Good news, Friday night the room gets paint! We might be in the room next Wednesday! More news, the shirts are ordered and also could be here next week. Lots of exciting things are happening at Btln, can't wait to be in the room!

THE CAPTAIN

BATTALION UPDATE

 

Time for a Btln update. I don't have any new pictures but just thought I would let you know that the locker room is slowly taking shape. Ted, Tony and Jeremy have all spent time mudding and taping the room, the water leak has been fixed and Owen has installed the doors! Time to pick the colors that we will paint the room! In other news Jeremy and I have been working on the t-shirts and have received the final draft from Tyler and they are going to be awesome! Can't wait to reveal the shirts. Battalion tonight, should be a great time, don't forget your registration money or your Bible.
Coming soon Meet the Nation with Calvin Peters.

THE CAPTAIN

MEET THE NATION - GERRY NICKEL

 

Time for another Meet the Nation, this time with Gerry Nickel. Most guys won't know Gerry, he was the Sergeant for the 86/87 and 87/88 seasons and his dad(Rey Nickel) was the pastor of Gospel Chapel. Gerry completed the Herald of Christ(The highest honor in Christian Service Brigade)and was one of the Sergeants when I was in Battalion. Gerry now lives in Edmonton with his wife Kendra and their four kids; Joshua, Nathan, Madison and Joel.(Three boys, it would be awesome if he would move back to Grand Forks!) Gerry is teaching the Bible at a Christian School in Edmonton.

RANDOM QUESTIONS
(1)Who is your favourite band/artist?
(A)Chris Tomlin
(2)What is your favourite style of music?
(A)Praise/worship
(3)Do you shave with an electric razor or a blade?
(A)Blade
(4)What would you rather grow? A beard or a moustache?
(A)Moustache
(5)What would you rather drive? A big truck or a fast car?
(A)Fast car
(6)What is more important before you go to bed? Brushing your teeth or watching the sports highlights?
(A)Brushing my teeth.
(7)What would you rather wear? A ball cap or a toque?
(A)Ball cap
(8)What is your favourite G.F. summer activity? Bridge jumping or tubing down the river?
(A)Tubing
(9)What was your favourite class in school? Shop or P.E.?
(A)P.E.
(10)What would you rather watch live? Your favourite band or your favourite sports team?
(A)Sports Team
(11)If you could be a superhero for a day who would you want to be?
(A)Superman
(12)What is your dream job?
(A)Teacher(I'm doing it)

BATTALION QUESTIONS
(13)What is your M.M.M. from Battalion?
(A)The Mill
(14)What do you miss most about Battalion?
(A)Full contact basketball on the 8 foot nets.(at Perley School)
(15)You arrive at the boat launch on your way out to the May Long when you realize the boat doesn't have enough room for both your tarp and your food. What do you leave behind? Your tarp or your food?
(A)Tarp
(16)How long have you been a part of the Btln Nation?
(A)26 years

FOOD QUESTIONS
(17)What is your favourite restaurant?
(A)Olive Garden
(18)How do you like your steak?
(A)Medium rare
(19)What is your favourite vegetable? Beans or Potatoes?
(A)Potatoes
(20)What do you like better? Chips or Cheezies?
(A)Chips
(21)What do you like better? Burgers or Pizza?
(A)Burgers
(22)What is your favourite flavour of chips?
(A)Sour Cream and Onion
(23)What do you like better? Coke or Pepsi?
(A)Coke, although I drink a Pepsi every once in a while to remind me of Tim Martens.

G.S.F. QUESTIONS
(24)When you were in high school what would you have chosen? Phone the girl that you liked or climb in a cage with a hungry bear?
(A)Phone the girl.
(25)What would you have rather done on a first date? Dinner and a movie or 4x4ing up moto?
(A)4x4ing up moto.

SERIOUS QUESTIONS
(26)What is your favourite Bible verse/passage?
(A)Psalm 127:1-5 Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain. Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchmen stand guard in vain. In vain you rise early and stay up late, toiling for food to eat-for he grants sleep to those he loves. Sons are a heritage from the Lord, children a reward from him. Like arrows in the hands of a warrior are sons born in one's youth. Blessed is the man whose quiver is full of them. They will not be put to shame when they contend with their enemies in the gate.
(27)What is your favourite book of the Bible?
(A)Genesis, it's the foundation.
(28)Who is your favourite Bible character?
(A)Nathan
(29)What are your plans for the future?
(A)Pursue God all the way!

Thanks to Gerry for taking the time to answer all of these questions. I really looked up to Gerry so it is awesome to see him still living for God!
By the way it has been two years since Bent started the blog, so after 330 posts and nearly 15,000 visits I thought that we would celebrate with this edition of Meet the Nation! Thanks to all who visit the blog!

THE CAPTAIN

Bulldog Music Reviews Quick Update

Hey! So I Finally got the new Family Force Five and well its not even mine! it frustrates me to no end that CD Stores hide this cd and tell me they dont have it when i come looking for it, this is my theory since Sam, Lance, and a friend of mine here all got it no problem!!!! so i still await the day when i actually get to buy it but for now my friend lent it to me! all that being said i wanted to let you know that the next review will be Family Force Five Dance or Die followed by The Classic Crime The Silver Chord, and then Jon Foreman's Winter, Spring, Summer, Fall EPs! so stay tuned for some more music reviews!!!

-bent ;)

2008 POOL PARTY

 

Another good night at Battalion! Jeremy had the some of the guys playing trampoline tag(a game that we invented when we were little kids)other guys were cooking Menno on the fire and the rest were swimming in the pool. Jeremy Owen and I ate a few extra grapes for all of the alumni that couldn't make it to the party. Sticking with tradition we played water football, Jeremy dominated the game, he kept going under the water with the ball, his team destroyed my team. Next it was time for the Belly flop competition, and it did not disappoint. It came down to a playoff between Andrew Eyre and Kevin Hayashi. It took until the third round before we could determine a winner and Andrew came out on top by the slimmest of margins. The guys were both really red by the time it was over and both deserved two thumbs up for their effort, it was amazing to watch! We finished with snacks in the basement, it couldn't have gone a whole lot better, there were just over forty guys, so another set of good memories are filed away!

THE CAPTAIN

POOL PARTY!

 

It's that time of year again, can you smell the grapes? Pool Party time at the B T L N! Water football, Mennonite sausage over the fire, the Belly flop comp., loud music and the snacks in the basement! So many good memories! The weather should be good and the pool will be warm! The party is at Abe's pool, 6715 18th street. See yah there!

THE CAPTAIN

BTLN ALUMNI UPDATE

 

Time for an Alumni update. This will only include the guys that are going to school, probably will do another later. Anyways, here goes, Ryley Heppner, Joe Kraftchick and Calvin Peters are all going to Columbia Bible College in Clearbrook. Kenny Johnson is going to Warner Pacific College in Portland. Brad Pauls is taking nursing in Lethbridge. Ben Jepsen, Dalton Erixon and Jason Hayashi are all going to Briercrest Bible College in Caronport. Jordon Walsh and Evan Podovinikoff are both going to school in Kelowna. And Devin Chursinoff is going to B.C.I.T. in Burnaby. It is good to see the Alumni make good decisions with their lives! And it is awesome to have so many guys going to Bible College! I wish that all of the Alumni could spend at least one year at Bible College. It is so important to be grounded in God's Word! I have probably missed someone, and if I have, write it in the comments.(Where is Tyler Francis?)Pray for all of these guys!

Coming soon Meet the Nation with Calvin Peters and Gerry Nickel. Just received the first draft of the t-shirts, they are looking good.

THE CAPTAIN

FIRST NIGHT OF 08/09 SEASON

 

Well the first night is in the books! It was a really good night, there were around 35-40 of us in the gym. It was really strange to not have access to the kitchen, but times change. First off we handed out the first ever Sergeant jersey, they look sweet. We are starting the "One forward and one back" program were we will hand out two jerseys every year. This year Drew and Devin will receive their jerseys, next year Jason and next years sergeant will receive a jersey. Anyways after the jersey presentation we played murder ball and did a best of seven series and my team had a 3-2 lead but lost two in a row to go down 4-3. Next we told the guys that we would be going through first and second Timothy and Titus this year for Bible studies. We read about the Philippian Jailor and how it must have made a big difference in Timothy's life to witness what Paul and Silas had to endure.(Acts 16:1-3,16-34) We finished the night with Bulldog which never disappoints, and Sammy J started off the year with a win. Way to go Sammy! At the end of the night Jeremy and I pulled Kevin aside and asked him to be a Corporal. So our Non-Coms are set, Drew Brown is Sergeant and Steven Feenstra, David Podovinikoff and Kevin Hayashi are the Corporals.(we haven't picked Lance Corporals yet) I'm excited about this group they will do a really good job. So the night could have ended there and it would have been amazing but the guys decided that we needed to go to Boston Pizza. So we cruised over to Castlegar and had a Non-Com meeting at B.P.. Not a lot got decided but we had a lot of fun. I think we started a new tradition, First Night & Last Night at Boston Pizza. Anyways next week is the pool party and the Belly flop competition at Mom and Dads, see yah there! One more thought, lots of leaders out tonight, that was really encouraging. Nice to have Blake back at Battalion.

THE CAPTAIN

ARE YOU READY FOR SOME BATTALION?

 

As I write this, there is less than twenty-four hours until the first night of the 08/09 Btln season! Who will win the Olympics, The Masters, and who will win Winston? Tomorrow the season begins and we will start to answer some of those questions. Be at the gym tomorrow at 7:00 P.M.! See you there!

THE CAPTAIN

LOCKER ROOM UPDATE

 

As you can see from the pictures the walls and ceiling are ready for the mudding and taping! The room is going to look even better than what I had first thought. Thanks to Owen and Charlie for putting in so much time and finishing off the walls! Tony came and did most of the work putting up the gyprock. Without Tony helping it would've taken a lot longer.
Aaron and Jeremy have also put in long hours. Now we wait for Ted to do the mudding and taping, then paint and then we finish the benches. Anyways time for bed, Owen made me promise him that I would have this done before I went to bed.

THE CAPTAIN

Bulldog Music Reviews

UNDEROATH-LOST IN THE SOUND OF SEPARATION



1. Breathing In A New Mentality
2. Anyone Can Dig A Hole But It Takes A Real Man To Call It Home
3. A Fault Line, A Fault Of Mine
4. Emergency Broadcast The End Is Near
5. The Only Survivor Was Miraculously Unharmed*
6. We Are The Involuntary
7. The Created Void
8. Coming Down Is Calming Down
9. Desperate Times Desperate Measures
10. Too Bright To See Too Loud To Hear*
11. Desolate Earth The End Is Here

Well i picked up the new Underoath on wed and have been listening to it ever since. unfortunately this new series for the blog will be useless to you if you cant wait at least a week after an album comes out to buy it if you are waiting for my opinion since i cant actually listen to the album till it comes out! ha ha none the less you most likely wouldnt make your album choices over one mans opinion, especially with music since everyone has a different taste and opinion. that being said the albums i will be reviewing will already be bought by me therefore i most likely will like the album! so if anything else take this as some music education.

Underoath has been making music since 1999 and has just released their sixth studio album. Listening to all six it is obvious that the band continues to improve and show us more and more of there talent as musicians. With the success they had with "They're only chasing safety" its hard not to compare every album after it but since then they have reached new levels and shown that each member strives to be better at what they do!

Overall the album is a bit darker or differnt then all the others. from how they recorded it to the artwork its not a typical Underoath style which excites me to no end. Each member of the band has taken their instrument and pushed themselves to be even better and different/new at what they do. If you were to listen to the album 6 times and focus in on one member each time around you would be amazed at how well each member is playing and how well it all fits together. Timothy McTague's guitar resonates at all the right times giving the album a raw loud sound while James Smith's rhythmic guitar takes it even further for both him and Tim. Along with the loud Underoath sound you need to have the mad bass riffs only Grand Brandell can deliver which gives the album that dark yet pumping sound. One of my favorite members of this band is Christopher Dudley who brings the unique Underoath sound with the keys and synth. Listening to each album its been awesome hearing Chris bring the keys not in a lame techno/old skillet sound but creative fast clean sound. for this album it shows that Chris has worked hard for his parts bringing this album to new levels. Next we have Spencer Chamberlain bringing the scream/vocals. Spence joined the band for "They're only chasing safety" exactly where they started to make some momentum as a band! His ability to bring the scream in a way that doesnt sound like old stretch arm strong but in a way that you can understand words amazes me. it brings both heavy fans (Zao) and not so heavy fans (Emery) together. And last but not least Aaron Gillespie is one of the main reasons why this band is as good as they are, he would be the Matt Thiessen to Relient K or Jon Foreman to Switchfoot. The drumming talent he brings in this album blows me away an anyone who has ever drummed (not that i know much about drums) would agree that Aaron is one of the best. Not only does his drumming rock but i think most of my favorite parts of the album are when he takes the vocals that we love so much from his side project The Almost. Spence and Aaron team up to be an amazing combo for lyrical writing and i always enjoy just reading the lyrics for each and every song! I have always thought it would be awesome to hear them put out this stuff in acoustic form to really show their lyrical abilities! with there ideas for including all six members doing vocals at once for that eerie chant sound and putting the mic at the end of a hall to give it that distanced sound its no doubt that these two work well together. So long as these six stick together i have no doubt that they will continue to make amazing albums.

If you are looking for a good sing along album that Dc Talk and Relient K deliver then this may not be the album for you but if you are searching for good music that shows your ear drums a new meaning of metalcore then look no further! Underoath once again delivers just as i hope they would. What nothing bad you say? well I suppose the only downfall to the album is that its only 41 mins long instead of the 4 disc set they should put out ;) i guess we will just have to listen to it again and again and again!

overall i give this album a 10/10

-bent ;)

BTLN - BIRTHDAYS SEPTEMBER

 

So September is a big month for the Btln Nation.(not just because my birthday is in September) Eleven guys, that's amazing.

NATHAN KLASSEN - SEPTEMBER 1
JOSH BURNSIDE - SEPTEMBER 1
ZACH GOBBETT - SEPTEMBER 3
LANCE MARTENS - SEPTEMBER 13
RYLEY HEPPNER - SEPTEMBER 16
SAMMY JEPSEN - SEPTEMBER 17
LEVI HIEBERT - SEPTEMBER 17
CHARLIE LANGIS - SEPTEMBER 20
CAM TYSSEN - SEPTEMBER 25
CAM THOMPSON - SEPTEMBER 25
DAVID PODOVINIKOFF - SEPTEMBER 26

Look at all of these guys, Battalion is very blessed and we have a lot to be thankful for. Put these guys on your prayer list! Happy Birthday!

THE CAPTAIN

amongst the chaos

Well we are starting another series here at the battalion blog for music lovers. i dont know how many of you check out the ratings of cds when they first come out at jesusfreakhideout.com but they never seem to be huge fans of all the best bands (yes i said it). so Lance figured we should just start our own! im working on a name and what ill be basing my ratings on if you have any ideas post em on! ive been working on getting the new family force five and the new underoath alas the world has seem to run dry of both but you can expect in the next week once i have them and listened to them that the ratings will be out on both! anyway keep it real and i salute those who are hard at work in GF for our locker room! peace

-bent ;)

LOCKER ROOM IDEAS

 

Joe sent me this picture of the Montreal Canadiens dressing room, The saying written around the top of the room is sweet. Not so sure about the faces. I'm thinking parts of 2Timothy 2:1-3 around the top of the room would be awesome. Anymore ideas just let us now.

THE CAPTAIN

Another Locker Room Update

 

The room is going to be amazing! Thanks to Dan, Aaron, Owen, Steve and Jeremy for all their time and effort this weekend!
We got a lot done this weekend. The benches are all framed, the lights and the rest of the wiring are done and we took five truck loads of garbage to the dump. If you go in there you can see what it is going to look like. Ted and Abe also spent some time this weekend helping out. There is still quite a bit do, so if you have some spare time and would like to help out just let us know! I can't wait until it is done!

THE CAPTAIN