Casey Watkins presents:

In the event that I am unable to resolve the issue with our use of the old Life Pointe building; I am in desperate need of a building. These shows have been an amazing opportunity to develop the community, and present Christ to people in a “real” way. I am asking for specific blog help from Travis Johnson, Chris Day, Dan Bard, and Jeff Reed. Anyone else, who could possibly point me in the direction of a venue, we would all greatly appreciate it. This venue is not a cash cow, nor is it an implement of destruction. This walled structure is a performance arena of amazing talents that God has blessed a lot of young people. It is also a safe harbor, and an incredible podium to deliver the message of Christ’s love for us. We do not bring in anyone who is out for ill will, and not all bands that preform are “Christian”. I am not looking to shut out the sick and dying, but I promise you that we take care of everyone involved, and safety is a great responsibility. This is my passion in life! I do not know many people in the world with, that have young people come up and tell them that they would like to be part of something. We have had people come to Christ through this, and just as many people become involved in our ministry at church. This has reached some amazing people, and I intend on continuing to have an open stage of discussion with my lost friends in Miami. “Whatever it takes!”. I fully trust God to work things out in His design. At a point, you have to take actions to finish out what He has sent you to do. Please respond to this post at rpmconcerts@gmail.com.

Love,

Casey

Aloha from Hawaii, on my honeymoon. I am sorry for the issues that have arose today. I have faith that Zack, Chris, and Zech, are doing their best to move this show to another location, for your enjoyment. Please cooperate with everyone at the show today. Love each other, and appreciate the hard work that has occured from all over the US to make today possible. Respect the people kind enough to allow the show to occur on a short notice. Throw trash away in it’s proper places, pay for your admission, and buy as much merchandise from the bands, as your budget allows for. Mahalo (thank-you) for being so understanding in this time. I am very sorry that I am too far away to do anything greater to help. I PROMISE to acquire other venues for us to enjoy in the near future. I already have many people there, working in our favor.

The owner’s of Hope Academy (f.k.a. Life Pointe) are NOT pastor’s. I do not want you to think of them as such either! I am adamant about not allowing this to make the true church look bad. The staff at Life Pointe Church has always been our ally. My pastors there, have always gone out of their way to provide what we need. We have worked together, much to hard for this opportunity to make us all look bad. As a community of art appreciating citizens, I want us to stay united. The easiest thing in the world, would be to retaliate against the school. I do not want to see anyone take the easy road out of this problem, I know that everyone is capable of being amazing. This is not about “my” shows, or “Zack’s” shows. It is about our passion. This is the second greatest thing in the world to posses, after a relationship with Christ (Psalm 37:4). We have some amazing shows coming this summer. I intend of having the best summer of our lives together. The shows will continue to get better. If you have any doubts about where things are going, simply look at where we came from. I truly love all of you. Ashley and I look forward to having shows with you all for many years to come. My passion alone, cannot be killed, except by taking my breathe. We will see you soon. Have an amazing day today! Please continue to make me proud in my absence. Stay tuned to the scene to see the solution. If you need anything, feel free to e-mail me at rpmconcerts@gmail.com.

Love,
Casey Watkins

Ashley, Ritz, and I, enjoyed an AMAZING show at Metro Life Church last night. I have only ever spent one night out in Miami on New Year’s Eve in the fifteen(15) of them that I have resided down here. It was so much better than ANY party I have ever conceived on New Year’s Eve! Our friend Gilbert, from The Bank United Center showed up to hang out with us at the show. Our friends Mike and Lee from Death by the Masses, as well as Simon from Call FM, with his sister Maria, and some kids from the local scene, were there with us and about another 250 people. Metro’s event was over-staffed with more than 3 dozen people. I only make this point, because doors were posted as opening at 9pm for over 3 weeks per i-tickets and this was posted on the commercial which ran for three weeks on Call FM. Whether or not this was i-tickets fault, it would’ve been nice to have this fact addressed before 8:45. They did get their stuff together and had us in by about 9:20. I do have to say to any church looking for a warehouse set-up, this church has done a phenomenal job! The place is very well designed. One final time to Metro Life Church, thanks for allowing me to enjoy the ONLY New Year’s Eve event that I have ever wanted to attend in my life!

A side note to local bands: Most of you are nice folks, but when you are opening for a major headliner, do not go interview the crowd about your band and tell them you are the bands street team. This is as tacky as the fashion core dudes wearing scene backpacks. Also, to the people that enjoy wearing tube-tops in public, remember that these were never product tested to support the riggerous activities of dancing.

Look for Xanadu and his wife to be having their baby boy in the first week of February. They have a new house and their condo is on the market. These guys will be back down during late Spring on a club tour with a major secular market under card. That will be exciting!

CHAPARRAL, N.M. - Getting a tattoo can be a painful proposition, but usually it’s just the needle you have to worry about. Two men trying to trace a loaded .357-caliber Magnum as a pattern for a tattoo accidentally shot themselves, the Otero County Sheriff’s Department said Monday.

Robert Glasser and Joey Acosta, both 22, were treated at a hospital in El Paso, Texas, after the shooting Thursday evening in nearby Chaparral.

Authorities said Glasser was struck in the hand when the gun accidentally went off, and Acosta was hit in the left arm. Their injuries were not life-threatening, authorities said.

However, they have made New Year’s revolutions not to trace loaded objects in the future. The bright side is that the “tattoos” of the bullet wounds were “free, they just have an embarrassing story to go along with those cool tats.

This reminds me of a another holiday story involving some old friends. About 10 years ago, there were a couple of my friends home alone for the first week of the new year. The family consisted of the eldest brother and his younger and brother. The eldest brother grilled steaks one night, and as they were eating, the younger brother got up from the table to use the bathroom. When he did, he reached across his older brothers plate to steal a piece of steak. This move would be costly to them both. The eldest brother instinctively grabbed his steak knife and wielded it towards his younger brother, as he ran for the bathroom. The knife found the younger brother’s lower back and stuck near the kidney.

Regular procedure when anyone is brought into the hospital for a stab wound (or a gunshot wound), is that the police are called, and a written report is filed. The younger brother opted not to press charges on his older brother, but for seven years he had major pull with his brother because of the statue of limitations.

When playing with sharp objects or loaded weapons this year, remember, God watches out for fools and babies. Some of us are a little bit too large to be in one of those categories.

   Chalk this up to my apathy. However, in a religion where you can create your own god, and there already exist 330,000,000(million) gods, something has to give!  Interestingly enough, read through the following account of “luck”;

Divers searched a river Wednesday for a woman who authorities say may have fallen in while placing a Hindu religious statue in the water to ward off bad luck.

Anu Solanki, 24, disappeared on Monday. Divers looked for her in the Des Plaines River after her car was found nearby in a forest in the Chicago suburb of Wheeling.

“I’m not going to give up hope,” said her husband, Dignesh Solanki.

A statue of Ganesh, the Hindu diety of good fortune and wisdom, was mailed to the family by relatives but arrived broken, her husband said. A religious leader told them it should be wrapped in a red cloth and placed in a lake or a river to prevent bad luck, he said.

He said his wife told him she had planned to place the statue in the river after she got off work on Monday. “She said, `I know where to go.’ That’s the spot my friend found her car,” Solanki said.

He said his wife called a friend Monday afternoon and said four men were following her, then called back to say they weren’t following her anymore.

Her Honda Civic was found Monday afternoon. A family friend said the car was unlocked and Solanki’s purse and laptop were missing.

The Solankis were born in India and live near Des Plaines. They were married in 2006. A second Hindu wedding was held last May in New Jersey, and the Ganesh statue played a role in the ceremony, Solanki said.

I guess if you have a different understanding of luck, you too may follow like a lemming.

I’ll post up with a pic later…The most important thing is that I finally popped the question. I’ve heard that Paul conducted an applause for me in the middle of service yesterday. I appreciate the applause. If Nancy and Arlene keep up their antics, I’m going to have a couple of adoptive moms. I’m not leaving any time for you two, or anyone else in Church to try and pursued Ashley differently. We will be married by the end of March at the latest. February 25th will mark 6 years exactly that I convinced her to go on a date with me. It didn’t take long to convince her to marry me. She would’ve taken the ring if I had given it to her earlier. Thanks to everyone that has congratulated me. In closing, Travis always says it is good to marry up :). When you look at why God built Eve for Adam, Ashley is definitely designed with those great qualities!

It never ceases to amaze me how things work from God. Between February 10, 2006 and today, there has been a total of $5,800 DONATED to this ministry. It always comes at the perfect time.

Due to odd circumstances at work last night, I was there awfully late. As I was leaving, I ran into a good friend of mine who was at dinner with another old friend of ours. Our old friend began to ask me what I was up to, they had an idea because they had seen our church in the rodeo parade and people had told them what they knew about me. I was able to tell them all about the shows. I explained a lot of what had been going on, and told them that if I wrote out everything that has happened on paper, that it would not make any logical sense. I explained that it only worked simply because God made it work. They do not go to church often, and neither does my good friend, they do enjoy on occasion attending C.F. I invited them to church with me, and I really hope they follow through with taking me up on my offer. There are not many things I enjoy more, than going to church with my friends.

I just realized if I did math according to Vegas, I have only overspent like $.75 in the last month. Thank God I have enough cell minutes.

As we get closer to tonight, I am almost relieved of the fact that I essentially get a break for a while. These next few shows we are doing are actually booked by other folks, and I am just producing. I am very happy to be hosting a Pillar show! I have heard nothing but great things about the guys, and I am really excited about having fun with them! It is really exciting to see how far away the people are traveling. I guess it is a rare thing to have a band this big be in the state for 2 weeks straight. If we hadn’t had all of these shows booked, I know my sis Katrina would’ve had me running all over the state to watch these shows. It is cool though, she gave up her trip to Nashville to watch FF5 play at Rockettown. So come out tonight and see the biggest thing to hit Homestead!