Around the web

News, notes, and fun from around the internets...

First, significant world news - the Hamas group won a majority in the Palestinian parliamentary polls yesterday. This could have serious implications for Palestine-Israel-U.S. relations, as the Hamas group has taken credit for 60 suicide bombings in Israel in the last 5 years. Prayer is needed for this region and these people.

Live 365 - Byron tuned me in to this site for free online radio from every genre you can imagine, ranging from Acid House to Zouk and everything in between. With the enormous variety of music, I have plenty of choices when I want to experiment. Currently, I'm listening to acoustic blues on Bluebird Blues Radio.

The cast of Lost is getting a pay raise 2x to 4x what they made in season 1 (around $80K/episode), due to the runaway success of the show. Not a bad gig, seeing as how in some episodes, the less-important members of the main cast (like Sun/Jin) barely even show up, so they just spend the whole ep lounging on the beach in Hawaii. How do I sign up for this assignment?


24 this season has been pretty good so far. (Skip down a paragraph if you don't want to hear mild plot points. I'll wait.) The first few eps did a pretty good job creating and sustaining believable, tension-filled terrorist scenarios involving hostages that didn't involve superweapons. Now, I'm a little leery of where they're taking this season, but in this excellent interview with one of the show's writers, there's hope: "Well, at the end of Season 4, we collectively said that we couldn't just keep up coming up with bigger and bigger terrorist threats. The goal instead was to come up with bigger dramatic events that could be spawned by terrorist threats. So, our approach to Season 5 was one of making it more complex and more complicated narratively. We tried to downsize the enormity of the threat without downsizing the impact of the event." Also contains some interesting comments about the conception of the show and the real-time format in the first season.

What do you get when you put Godzilla, Batman, Indiana Jones, Optimus Prime, Shaquille O'Neal, Jackie Chan, and a host of other heroes and villains on an island and watch them duke it out? Why, you get The Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny music video! Warning: cartoon violence and the tune gets stuck in your head. Get ready to be surprised who comes out on top!

In another crash between two beloved childhood icons, Hasbro has come out with Transformer Star Wars characters. The Vader/TIE Advanced (left) actually looks really cool. Thanks to Andrew W for the link.

If you haven't seen the Free Photo Booth bit from The Tonight Show, you should really set aside 10 minutes or so to watch. I feel sorry for the little girl who had her head bonked against the ceiling by her dad. Link supplied by Karen.

Looks like U2 may have some hip-hop influence on their next album.

The Canaan youth group is kicking off a series on purity starting tonight and going through February. Andy sent along this CNN segment about the Pledge for Purity campaign that's making its way through youth groups around the nation. Serves to remind that while we who are older can do our best to teach, challenge, and model principles to youth, it's ultimately up to them whether they choose to follow Jesus and obey - we can't make decisions for them.

Men tend to be more vindictive against bad people. Perhaps this is because we grew up idolizing champions for justice like cops, soldiers, and Voltron?

Stories for a reunion?

Sometime this year, my high school graduating class will have its 10-year reunion. That's kind of a trippy thought - that a decade has already gone by since the last time we heard a meaningful school bell ringing, signalling the end of one stage of life and the entry into the next.

I'm not sure if I'll attend or not. On the one hand, reunions are supposed to be opportunities for old friends to catch up with one another. On the other, the stereotype appears to be a dog-and-pony show where everyone brings along their wife, their stock portfolio, and a carefully rehearsed story that embellishes life accomplishments, all while being dressed up to the nines. Isn't that the subject matter of countless movies - trying desperately to do enough so as to win the respect of your peers?

While I know that the truth probably lies somewhere in between, there's definitely a part of me that whispers of my potential inadequacy in the eyes of my peers, particularly in the group of folks I hung out with. We were mostly a merry band of overachievers... attempting to outdo each other in grades, AP classes, extracurricular activities, club leaderships, sports, and the like. Accurate or not, I went through high school with the perception that I had to live up to performance standards to be accepted. Even today, the high school friends who I've kept tabs on have done very well - founded companies, become doctors, gotten married or in serious relationships, etc, and I'm happy for them.

When I decided to become a follower of Jesus Christ in college, what I didn't realize until after the fact was that when he came in to "dine with me" (Rev. 3:20), he knew that a complete remodelling was needed. 'Twas no piecemeal upgrade, like re-doing a kitchen or installing new carpet - everything within had to be torn down and built back up again. In my case, God had to systematically strip away everything in my life that I might boast about - to others, or even to myself - so that in the end, I would only be able to, as Paul says, "boast in Christ." I wrote a little bit more in detail about this period of my life in this post.

As I look back now, it's been an incredibly humbling journey walking daily in Jesus, knowing that who I am and what I've done is no big deal - but being able to enjoy Jesus in my life is the biggest deal. Having God as the center of my morals, values, work, decisions, relationships, and most of all, love and enjoyment, has given me a solidifying foundation for being able to regard myself with a right mindset. In other words, my mind is gradually becoming renewed (Romans 12:2).

I've recently begun trying to get back in touch with some of those guys I hung out with in high school. Some of them, I've been in touch with recently, others probably not since freshman or sophomore year in college. I want to hear the stories of their journeys - successes, failures, memorable moments and people - and I'd like the chance to perhaps share some of my own. With the folks I've already caught up with, I've found in myself a strange, yet exhilirating freedom from having to make the list of my life look good to others, and I can just look for ways to relate my life to theirs. I do know that I'm now a very different person than I was, and I can only attribute that to the continuing work God is doing in me as He completes His story in me. Hopefully this story will come through loud and clear through my words.

What work is really being done?

While reading the Bible this morning, I came across Ephesians 2:10: "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do."

In the margin, I had a quote from Pastor Tim regarding this verse: "God's work in me should occupy more than 50% of my life."

In other words, in order to truly be God's workmanship, we need to allow Him to work within us. We need to spend the time processing our thoughts, our deeds, and our lives to see just how far along He's brought us on our journey home - essentially, to dig deeply within in order to go beyond supeficiality.

I think this verse, and the associated lesson, gave me pause because thus far this year, I haven't been creating very much room for the work that God wants to do in me. As I alluded to at the bottom of this post, there are particular spiritual lessons and issues that He is bringing to my attention, but I've had to put them on the back burner for a while because there's a certain amount of ministry work that I've been working on that other people are waiting on me for (namely, curricula for training new worship leaders and community group leaders). I suppose I've rationalized it to be a necessary, temporary sacrifice of my own spiritual development, but I'm hoping to get my priorities more in line sooner rather than later.

On another note, it seems that for many of my Christian friends, there's been a mass movement towards a greater emphasis on prayer - personally, corporately, for the church, for the world, for our friends and family, for ourselves. To that end, I realized that since I take the train around three times a week anyway, there's a built-in 50 minutes during my commute that I can spend praying. So, I spent some time today re-organizing prayer items on my PDA so that I can more easily track them with regard to the above-mentioned areas, and spent most of the train ride to and from the office praying. I'm excited to see how I can grow in the area of prayer this year.

Priceless

Found this off the Golden State Warriors message board. Hilarious, although it must hurt for all the USC fans out there...


I'll post some serious stuff soon :-).

Martin Luther King quote

Came across this quote on Slamonline.com, from Martin Luther King's Letter from a Birmingham Jail, written to clergymen who criticized an imprisoned King for being an "extremist". The entire letter is worth reading and reminiscent of the Apostle Paul's own jail writings, but this excerpt captures the gist:

But as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a bit of satisfaction from being considered an extremist. Was not Jesus an extremist for love -- "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice -- "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ -- "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist -- "Here I stand; I can do none other so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist -- "I will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist -- "This nation cannot survive half slave and half free." Was not Thomas Jefferson an extremist -- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal." So the question is not whether we will be extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice--or will we be extremists for the cause of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill, three men were crucified. We must not forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thusly fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. So, after all, maybe the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

How can you and I be creative extremists for love, truth, and goodness today?

5 Weird Habits

Well, I read Andrew's post about his 5 weird habits then apparently got tagged at the end just for reading. It's hard to come up with 5 weird habits when [straight face] I'm so normal [/straight face], but I'll give it a shot, I suppose.

1) A couple of personal eating habits that some may consider odd (some taken from this old post):
- I've never had a cup of coffee or a can of beer.
- I water down my juice, by 1/3 to 1/2. Even at work, I'll have a can of OJ and a bottle of water and swig from each in the same mouthful.
- I need to have equal amounts of "bread" and other ingredients in a single mouthful. For example, I will distribute sandwich elements in an equitable manner so that each bite will be balanced. I will also do this with pizza - eating from the cheese-covered end and then from the crust end so that the non-cheesed crust is in the mouth with a sufficient amount of cheese and toppings.
- I eat cereal by pouring the milk into the bowl, then pouring the cereal into the milk. This keeps the cereal crisp.
- I often chew a mouthful more than 30 times. My parents observe that my future wife had better 1) be a patient person and/or 2) enjoy talking, because otherwise she'll go insane watching me eat slowly.

2) When I get into the car by myself, there's usually a CD in the player that I've been listening to. Upon starting the engine, I always start the current song over from the beginning, if it was cut off in the middle when I turned off the engine earlier on.

3) Before sleeping, I need to read something light (usually a novel) while sitting up in bed waiting for it to warm up. This is why I've read most of the novels on my bookshelf more than once. I'm thinking of modifying this habit by either 1) adapting to reading more thought-intensive nonfiction, or 2) starting to go to the library again.

4) I guess this isn't really a habit, but sometimes when I'm bored and I come back home to an empty house, I'll pretend to be a cop just for fun and "clear" the house - hugging the walls, crab-stepping through rooms, and peeking around corners. I'm fairly certain I've never done this in the presence of another person.

5) On my computer, I like having my tabs in a particular order - on my Windows taskbar, the windows are always (left-to-right) Windows Explorer, Outlook, Firefox, and then everything else; on Firefox, the tabs are always (left-to-right) Gmail, Yahoo Mail, My Yahoo, then everything else. If I accidentally close a window or a tab, I'll often close everything else and re-open things in the right order (thankfully, with the new Firefox, I no longer have to do this when I accidentally close a tab - I can just drag and drop to the appropriate place).

Hm, maybe it wasn't that hard to come up with weird habits...

Not a good basketball day for me yesterday. Spurs and Warriors both got taken apart. "Lost" came back with a good episode on Wednesday though, and "24" starts up again this Sunday. Do I watch too much TV? Maybe.

Haven't written anything of substance in a long time, but a pleasant surprise from yesterday was that my company has this upcoming Monday (MLK day) off, so I ought to be able to get caught up on some ministry matters and some writing. Will be heading off to a church leadership retreat for the weekend, but it's always nice to realize that the weekend will be one day longer than you expected going in.

Topics I've been ruminating on that may appear in this space once I sit down and write out my thoughts:
Entitlement
Living a "default" life
Aging
What it really means to be a "good Christian"
My creed

2006 Film Journal

Updated 2006/12/31

Recent films:
Mission Impossible 3 (sometime in 2006, DVD)
===================
Firefly (throughout 2006, DVD)
===================
March of the Penguins (2006/12/28, DVD)
===================
Little Miss Sunshine (2006/12/23, DVD)
===================
An Inconvenient Truth (2006/12/07, DVD)
===================
Casino Royale (2006/12/02, theater)
===================
The Producers (2006/11/25, DVD)
===================
The Departed (2006/10/22, theater)
===================
End of the Spear (2006/10/05, DVD)
===================
Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2006/09/18, DVD)
===================
The Sentinel (2006/09/04, DVD)
===================
Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest (2006/08/05, theater)
===================
Phone Booth (2006/07/25, TV)
===================
Iron Monkey (2006/07/09, DVD)
===================
Superman Returns (2006/07/08, theater)
===================
Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (2006/05/29, DVD)
===================
Wedding Singer (2006/05/29, DVD)
===================
X-Men 3: The Last Stand (2006/05/29, theater)
===================
The Big Hit (2006/05/21, DVD)
===================
Emperor's New Groove (2006/05/20, DVD)
===================
50 First Dates (2006/05/07, DVD)
===================
Inside Man (2006/04/15, theater)
Thoughts: Unusual movie, but pretty entertaining and well made. Denzel turned on all his charm, playing a detective with ambiguous morals. Jodie Foster played an unusually confident, sleazy role as a high-powered NYC lawyer who can make things happen behind the scenes. Poor Clive Owen had to do almost all of his acting behind sunglasses and a mask, but still managed to come across as a pretty solid villain. This wasn't a classic heist movie, and the twists were clever but not especially surprising. However, Spike Lee still manages to get a few editorial comments about the diversity of NYC (a scene where Denzel asks the crowd to identify an obscure foreign language and immediately gets a response) as well as stereotypes of American black culture (a disturbingly amusing video game that a young black boy is playing on his PSP). Worth seeing once, but wait for it to hit DVD so you can discuss it with people.
===================
Spaceballs (2006/04/02, DVD)
Memorable quotes (click here for a longer list:

Dark Helmet: So, Lone Star, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.

Dark Helmet: Before you die there is something you should know about us, Lone Star.
Lone Starr: What?
Dark Helmet: I am your father's brother's nephew's cousin's former roommate.
Lone Starr: What's that make us?
Dark Helmet: Absolutely nothing! Which is what you are about to become.
===================
X2: X-Men United (2006/04/01, TV)
===================
A History of Violence (2006/03/19, DVD)
Thoughts (mouse over to read): Probably one of the more unusual movies I've ever seen, not so much from the technical standpoint (like "Memento"), but more from the storytelling style. The pacing is very different from the standard Hollywood fare. Some scenes may go on longer for no immediately apparent reason, characters will pause for a confusingly long time in between lines of dialogue, etc. This is a movie that requires thought, and perhaps some help from more well-versed critics to identify the load of themes that made this one of 2005's most critically-acclaimed films. Basically, this is intended to be an essay of sorts on the source and impact of violence in American life, by showing us the results. For example, Hollywood has glamorized violence (the hero is the one who uses violence to beat down the bad guys) - so in a "heroic" moment in the film, we see the antagonist gruesomely drawing his last breaths through a face shattered by a bullet. The audience goes from Hollywood-style cheering to revulsion in an instant. We see similar takes on this theme in the impact of violence on sex, family, and identity. I'd recommend seeing this movie in a smaller group and spending time afterward talking about it.
===================
Big Trouble in Little China (2006/02/05, DVD)
Thoughts: Now I know who "Lo Pan" is in the Ultimate Showdown of Ultimate Destiny music video. Plus, this movie was a lot of fun to MST3K-style comment on . Classic B-movie flick, worth seeing once to see what the cult status is all about, and that's about it.
===================
King Kong (2006/01/02, Theater)
Thoughts (mouse over to read): Surprisingly touching. You wouldn't expect a movie about a 25-foot tall ape to reduce Joyce, Joy, and Maria to tears by the end, but they were apparently sobbing the entire time from when Kong first arrives in NYC to his eventual denouement. Peter Jackson does a wonderful job making us care about the central relationship between Kong and Ann Darrow, played by a wonderfully expressive Naomi Watts (since they can't talk to each other, the communication is almost completely through facial expression). We really don't care about everyone else in the movie, from Adrien Brody's playwright and Jack Black's slightly insane moviemaker to the entire crew of the ship (although I could have done without the entire insect attack scene... seeing a crewmember get gobbled down by a toothed leech is one of the most disturbing things I've ever seen on film).

Andy Serkis does an amazing job portraying a gorilla's movements - much props to his preparation for his role, studying video of real ones in order to mimic them for the computer animation folks. Kong is computer-generated marvel - he looks and acts real. His facial expressions are believable, even while remaining firmly entrenched in the "animal kingdom" (at no point do we think it's human), and I particularly liked the effect of his eyes clouding over as life slips away on top of the Empire State Building.

Top-notch blockbuster movie. Could have been shorter, but seeing Kong take on 3 T-Rex's is worth the price of admission alone.
===================
Bruce Almighty (2005/12/25, DVD)
Click here for a more comprehensive review of this surprisingly thoughtful comedy.

Some golden quotes:
Bruce: [being overwhelmed with hearing prayers] Give me a break!
[Bruce is instantly transported to meet with God]
God: Really something, isn't it?
Bruce: Is this heaven?
God: No, this is Mount Everest. You should flip on the Discovery Channel from time to time. But I guess you can't now, being dead and all.
[pause]
Bruce: I'm *dead*?
God: Naw, I'm just messing with ya.
Bruce: That's not funny, Man! That is *not* funny.

Bruce: There were so many. I just gave them all what they want.
God: Yeah. But since when does anyone have a clue about what they want?

God: Bruce, you have a divine spark. You have a gift for bringing joy and laughter to the world. I know, I created you.
Bruce: Quit bragging.

God: No matter how filthy something gets, you can always clean it right up.

Bruce: How do you make somebody love you without affecting free will?
God: [scoffs] Welcome to my world, son.

Bruce: Lord, feed the hungry, and bring peace to all of mankind. How's that?
God: Great... If you wanna be Miss America.
God: Grace. You want her back?
Bruce: No. I want her to be happy, no matter what that means. I want her to find someone who will treat her with all the love she deserved from me. I want her to meet someone who will see her always as I do now, through Your eyes.
God: Now THAT'S a prayer.
===================
The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (2005/12/18, Theater)
Thoughts (mouse over to read): Having recently read the book, I had a pretty good idea of what to expect going into the movie. The filmmakers did a pretty good job, I think. While the commercials might have you believe that it's "Lord of the Rings Lite," the battle scene at the end was really not all that important in the grand scheme of the movie. They did a good job transporting the viewer through the wardrobe to the magical world of Narnia. The little girl playing Lucy did a marvelously natural job expressing wonder and delight (according to reviews, they actually blindfolded her and brought her onto the snowy Narnia set, capturing her honest astonishment on camera after taking off the blindfold). Some parts of the movie were awkward or unintentionally funny, at least to an adult viewer, but overall it did a good job of capturing the feel of an intelligent childlike fantasy, with some Christian symbolism. They did inexplicably leave out my (and many others') favorite line of dialogue from the book: "Is (Aslan) safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he is good. He's the king, I tell you." I'd give the film a solid B to B+ - certainly worth seeing in the theater, but not worth seeing more than once in the theater like the LOTR movies were.

On a related note, if you haven't seen the SNL Chronicles of Narnia rap yet, you really should take some time to do so. One of the funniest satires on "gangsta rap" that I've ever heard.
===================

Simple post to keep track of the films I watch in 2006, along with short reviews and rankings.

PWN3D!!1! part two

Long-time readers may remember this post where one of the junior high girls in my youth group laughed at me for never having had a girlfriend. Well, here's part two, from Richard's blog chronicling a conversation between himself (R) and his mom (RM):

RM:does bob have a girlfriend?
R:haha... no... he's lived at home with his parents for quite some time, remember?
RM:who says you can't have a girlfriend and live with your parents?
R:because no girl is going to like a boyfriend who does that!
RM:you're just being silly
R:*racks head*
R:the bible says so...
RM:WHAT?!?!?
RM:where?
R:genesis
RM:you mean where God says a man must leave his mother and father to become tied to another woman?
R:EXACTLY! if you don't leave your mother and father, HOW CAN YOU EXPECT TO BE TIED TO ANOTHER WOMAN?
RM:tis a shame you bought that king james bible; i thought you were going to get smarter

...

Hm, good thing I moved out eh? Haha...

2005 in survey form

A 2005 survey, yanked from Clement (which he appears to have made private)...
1. What did you do in 2005 that you'd never done before?
Vacation in Europe - Spain and London. See the blog.

2. Did you keep your New Years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
One goal was to go on a short-term missions trip again. One that's carrying over to this year is to take more responsibility for my personal finances.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
No one that I'm super close to. But Reni has one of the more adorable baby girls around.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
Nope.

5. What countries did you visit?
Mexico, England, Spain.

6. What would you like to have in 2006 that you lacked in 2005?
More focus on processing my life. Plus, I want to gain some real estate knowledge.

7. What date from 2005 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
Don't remember going on any dates. Oh, this meant calendar type dates... hm, no specific dates, really, more like events and decisions (which will be detailed following this survey).

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Getting to know myself and my friends better.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Not following through on some opportunities to share the Gospel. Not working on some significant weaknesses, such as prioritizing leadership training.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Not much aside from the occasional cold and dropping a table on my leg in Mexico.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
A vacation.

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
The youths that went on the Mexico missions trip grew up quite a bit, and it's carrying over into youth group.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
My own. Over and over again.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Spain vacation. Moving out into a rented place in Mountain View. CDs. Food.

15. What did you get?
Relaxation. New experiences.

16. What song will always remind you of 2005?
"City of Blinding Lights" and "Love and Peace or Else," by U2. Even though the album was released in 2004, these songs were the highlights of the U2 concert in April of 2005. "There's something about the grandiose nature of The Edge's jangly, chiming guitar as an atmospheric song gradually changes into a full-gallop rocker that just makes you feel happy to be alive."

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
i. happier or sadder? more content
ii. thinner or fatter? apparently I may have lost some weight
iii. richer or poorer? materially, poorer since I'm paying rent now. Personally? Enriched with experience

18. What do you wish you'd done more of?
Reading/studying nonfiction topics like finance.

19. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Playing Flash games like Heli Attack 3 on the web.

20. How will you be spending Christmas?
Church, watching football, napping, spending time with family, dinner, watching "Bruce Almighty."

22. Did you fall in love in 2005?
Don't think so...

23. How many one-night stands?
None.

24. What was your favorite TV program?
Got into "Lost" this year, so I'll go with that.

25. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't think I genuinely hate anyone...

26. What was the best book you read?
Why Smart People Make Big Money Mistakes, by Belsky and Gilovich. Recommended by Joseph.

27. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Jazz (John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Preservation Hall Jazz Band). Runners-up would be Bob Dylan and Vienna Teng.

28. What did you want and get?
Time away from my life here in Silicon Valley.

29. (The survey didn't actually have a question for this number, so ask me a 2005-related question and perhaps I'll answer it)

30. What was your favorite film of this year?
In terms of theatrical releases, would probably have to say Batman Begins.

31. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Church sports day with basketball and softball, sashimi dinner at night with parents. Turned 27.

32. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
Spending every morning in the Word and prayer.

33. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2005?
As simple as possible. T-shirt/jeans/sneakers, preferably in white/black/blue/green/grey.

34. What kept you sane?
Prayer.

35. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
The 2005 NBA champion San Antonio Spurs.

36. What political issue stirred you the most?
Nothing's coming to mind. This is kinda distressing.

37. Who did you miss?
Can't say I missed anyone. My community was pretty good this year.

38. Who was the best new person you met?
2005 was more about deepening existing relationships with people.

39. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2005:
We're not going to be around forever - so invest in someone to take over when you're gone.

40. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year:
"The more you see, the less you know / The less you find out as you go / I knew much more then than I do now" - "City of Blinding Lights", U2

2005 Blog retrospective

Some of my favorite posts from the last year:

Striving for holy tension
Actors/Actresses being typecast
God loves you too much to let you stay the way you are
Quote on Brokenness from WCC
WCC recap 1 - short takes
WCC recap 2 - Spontaneous Multiplication of Churches
WCC recap 3 - Lifestyle of Listening and Obeying
Insight into my parents' generation
U2 concert
The Beauty and Challenge of Simplicity
Product at work showing up on "24"
Star Wars fandom history
Revenge of the Sith review
Watching sports live seems to curse my favorite teams
Heavy laden
Explanation of grad school decision
Scars
Mexico Missions recap
My sermon outline
20 random facts
Breath of Life
A new generation of worshippers?
Favorite scenery pics from Spain vacation
Favorite people pics from Spain vacation
Humility and Hoops
Humility in Worship
Worship inspires change
Scripture in Music
Malnourished

To come: more 2005 reflections and some goals for 2006.

2006 Music Journal

Updated 2006/12/31

Currently listening:

Recent albums:
Carried Along, Andrew Peterson (2006/12/14)

Achtung Baby, U2 (2006/12/02)

Timothy Keller lecture on JRR Tolkien (2006/11/28)

Everlasting, Sovereign Grace Ministries (2006/11/03)

The Best of 1980-1990, U2 (2006/10/29)

OK Computer, Radiohead (2006/10/25)

Kaleidoscope Superior, Earthsuit (2006/10/11)

Good Monsters, Jars of Clay (2006/10/04)

This Side, Nickel Creek (2006/10/01)

The Everglow, Mae (2006/09/28)

Dreaming Through the Noise, Vienna Teng (2006/09/18)

Come on! Feel the Illinoise!, Sufjan Stevens (2006/09/06)

This Beautiful Mess, Sixpence None the Richer (2006/08/26)

Much Afraid, Jars of Clay (2006/08/22)

Waking Hour, Vienna Teng (2006/08/14)

A Place Where You Belong, The Normals (2006/08/09)

Arriving, Chris Tomlin (2006/08/05)

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, Lauryn Hill (2006/07/31)

War, U2 (2006/07/26)

Kansas, Jennifer Knapp (2006/07/20)

Live at Luther College, Dave Matthews and Tim Reynolds (2006/07/09)

Share the Well, Caedmon's Call (2006/07/06)

Central Park Concert, Dave Matthews Band (2006/06/21)

Caedmon's Call, Caedmon's Call (2006/06/16)

Warm Strangers, vienna Teng (2006/06/11)

"With Abandon", Chasing Furies (2006/06/02, 2006/12/08)

"White Flag", Shaun Groves (2006/05/25)

"The Jesus Record demos", Rich Mullins (2006/05/24)

"Redemption Songs", Jars of Clay (2006/05/20)

"Divine Discontent", Sixpence None the Richer (2006/05/08)

"Room Noises", Eisley (2006/04/29)

"Feels Like Home", Norah Jones (2006/04/25)

"Nothing is Sound", Switchfoot (2006/04/16, 2006/11/25)
Short review: The follow-up to "The Beautiful Letdown", which catapulted this San Diego rock band to superstardom in the mainstream, is pretty solid but doesn't break much new ground for them. They do rock out more - indeed, the first half of the album is chock full of chunky guitar riffs and is probably quite fun in concert. Plus, frontman Jon Foreman's musings on the meaningless of life, materialism, politics, and everything else without God in the picture are still spot on. However, we've heard many of these musings before. I know I'm not the only fan who'd like to see them branch out a little bit in their subject matter. Also, while it's a pretty solid album all the way through, the second half is less memorable than the first, and overall doesn't quite have the unique sound I associate with the band primarily from their "Learning to Breathe" days. However, they still have a clear gift for melody - I was singing their songs to myself in the lab at work for days. Favorite tracks: Lonely Nation, Stars, Happy is a Yuppie Word, The Shadow Proves The Sunshine, Easier Than Love. Click here for a more detailed review by an outside reviewer.

"Jars of Clay", Jars of Clay (2006/04/10)
Short review: One of my favorite album of all time, and hands-down the most influential thus far in my music fandom life. This was the first album I purchased that was written from a faith-based perspective - I borrowed both this album and a Michael W. Smith album from Eva our freshman year at Cal, and this one, with its rhythmic acoustic guitar strumming, tight harmonies, and poetic lyrics, captured my imagination and proceeded to shape my listening habits all the way up till now. Jars still remains my favorite band, through experimentation with different musical and lyrical styles. This album kicked everything off. I was listening to this in preparation for singing "Worlds Apart" on Easter, which happens to be my favorite song of all time and encapsulates neatly a good portion of my testimony. Other favorites include "Faith Like A Child", "Art in Me", and "Liquid" (the combination of violins, mandolin, harmonizing vocals, and a Gregorian chant in the intro are all indelibly etched into my memory).

(online) Fine Classics (2006/02/23)

"Sixpence None The Richer," Sixpence None The Richer (2006/03/26)
Short review: Millions of people bought this album for the hit songs "Kiss Me" and "There She Goes." Unfortunately, Sixpence (which disbanded in 2004) became known for these songs, the latter of which they didn't even write, and thus were stamped as one-hit wonders and a fluffy girl pop band. Pity, because for those who actually took the time to listen to Matt Slocum's complex, whimsical lyrics, the delicate acoustic-electric arrangement, and Leigh Nash's lilting voice, the discerning listener would find a superb band writing spectacular songs far better than their "hits." On this album, most of the songs were less poppy, but much more interesting in their lyrical and musical approach. For example, "Puedo Escribir" merges at least two time signatures, some Spanish fiddle, and lyrics from a poem by Pablo Neruda to put together one of the most interesting songs I've ever heard. They also depart from the happy-go-lucky tone of "Kiss Me" on "Anything", detailing the struggle of artists trying to balance between the desire to stay true to their art and the commercial realities of trying to make a living. There's some Biblical imagery, like the burning bush that gave direction to Moses, God as the Harvester planting new seeds in people, and a few other ones. For the patient listener, there is much to unearth on this album, and while I found "This Beautiful Mess" more consistently listenable and "Divine Discontent" to be perhaps their best combination of pop sensibility and sublimie lyrics, their self-titled shows the band at its most experimental. Favorite tracks: Puedo Escribir, Love, I Can't Catch You, The Waiting Room, Anything.

"downhere", downhere (2006/03/16)
Short review: One of my favorite debut albums. This Canadian pop/rock band puts together a good mix of music ranging from straight ahead rockers to thoughtful ballads, along with a few mid-tempo numbers, and embellishes everything with inventive electric guitar work, piano melodies, and harmonizing vocals from the two lead singers. The harmony work is quite pleasant because the two have distinct voices that reside in different registers (one sounds an awful lot like Kevin Max from the former dc Talk), which makes it easy and fun to practice singing harmony in the car. Lyrically, they explore topics from severe struggle, the greatness of God, the need for peacemakers, and other musings on life and faith. My favorite track, "Making Me", starts muted before crashing in on the pre-chorus. The bridge then has a short rapid-fire almost-rap section before shifting time signatures and going into a dark electric guitar solo, before coming back to the chorus again. Very tasty arrangement. Be sure to listen for 3 minutes on track 12 (it's not all empty space) for the funniest hidden track I've ever heard. Favorite songs: Making Me, Great Are You, Calmer of the Storm, Protest to Praise, Breathing In, Rock Stars Need Money.

"Drunkard's Prayer", Over the Rhine (2006/03/12)
Short review: The critically-acclaimed husband-and-wife folk duet that comprises Over the Rhine found themselves having marital problems a few years ago, that was only being exacerbated by being on tour all the time. So, they ended up cancelling their tour in an effort to save their marriage, and throughout the long process of healing was able to write the songs that comprise this wonderfully vulnerable album about love, sacrifice, and not knowing what you have until you almost lose it. Musically, this is very sparse (no driving drum beat or wall of sound here), but vocalist Karin Bergquist's sultry voice is complemented nicely by Linford Detweiler's multi-instrumental virtuosity on piano, guitar, Wulitzer, bass, and percussion. The style ranges from their standard Americana folk to smokey jazz numbers, and the lyrics speak honestly about the struggles they've been through and how their marriage has been strengthened by working through the struggles together. With my recent foray into jazz, I found this album very appealing. Favorite tracks: Born, Little Did I Know, Firefly, My Funny Valentine. Click here for a more detailed review by an outside reviewer.

"In the Reins EP", Calexico and Iron & Wine (2006/03/09)
Short review: Nice, short set of 7 songs from a well-respected folk songwriter and an instrumental band. The music runs the gamut from folk-rock to jazz to Americana to country, but the shifts never become too jarring. I didn't listen to this EP enough times to get a good feel for the poetry of the lyrics, but the music is all high-quality and an enjoyable listen.

"Thelonious Monk Quartet with John Coltrane at Carnegie Hall" (2006/03/05)
Short review: Smooth jazz set, recorded live, with two of the acknowledged legends in the field playing together. As a jazz novice, it was helpful to listen to the audience response to identify sections of the music that were particularly worthy of applause (and so learn more about what's "good"). On the whole, however, I didn't find the album as memorable as Coltrane's "Blue Train" album.

"No Name Face" - Lifehouse (2006/02/28)
Short review: Contains one of 2003's most-played radio hits ("Hanging by a Moment"). This is an excellent modern rock debut album by a band that got its start in a Vineyard church in Southern California, with clever instrumentation (including some non-standard "rock" instruments like mandolin) and strong songwriting on topics ranging from romantic love to worship to struggle with sin. Jason Wade's gravelly baritone can really soar when he wants to. Unfortunately, after a decent sophomore album, the band hasn't really been able to maintain artistic or commercial momentum, but this one is a solid listen all the way through. Favorite tracks: Hanging by a Moment, Breathing, Trying, Everything. See here for a more comprehensive review by an outside reviewer.

"Jill Paquette" - Jill Paquette (2006/02/15)
Short review: High quality folk-pop album from a relative unknown. Lyrically and stylistically, probably the closest comparison would be a cross between Bethany Dillon (instrumentally), Nichole Nordeman (lyrically), and Sarah McLachlan (vocally). It took many listens for the music to sink in - the first 3 or 4 times, while I could tell it was quality music, it didn't really catch my attention that much, but afterwards, I began noticing particular lyrical turns of phrase and musical flourishes (mostly on the acoustic guitar) that were memorable (for example, from "Lift My Eyes": "I've seen light lost to darkness, but You made a promise" and from "Forget": "Ignorance is no excuse for something I've known all along.") Her website has the lyrics and litte introductions to each song, which adds valuable context. Top songs: One of These Days, Lift My Eyes, Forget, Free (Take My Life).

"Dixieland Gumbo"(2006/02/07)

"Stereo: The Evolution of HipRockSoul" - 4th Avenue Jones (2006/02/03)
Short review: Click here.

"Bluebird Blues Radio" (2006/01/26)

"The Far Country" - Andrew Peterson (2006/01/27)
Short review: Click here.

"Conspiracy No. 5" - Third Day (2006/01/16)
Short review: Third Day at its most modern-rock-ingest. After the southern-fried rock of their debut and before the turn to mellower worship-oriented stylings like what they do now, the band stretched its creative wings with this project, with a heavy sound and emphasis on stellar electric guitar work. While I don't think it achieves the sublime blend of high-energy southern rock and mellower vertical music that they get on their next album "Time", this disc has perhaps the best instrumental work, and the most diverse set of subject matter lyrically, ranging from a diatribe against popular music to a heartfelt apology. While this is not the sound that has made Third Day a big name in "church music", many original fans wish they would go back to these days of instrumental and lyrical creativity. Top tracks: Peace, Alien, My Hope is You, Who I Am.

"Hymned" - Bart Millard (2006/01/15)
Short review: Awesome album. 5 years ago I wouldn't have enjoyed this CD at all, with its wide variety of styles ranging from Southern gospel, pop, rock, R&B, country, and soul, but as my musical horizons have broadened, I've grown to love the mishmash. Recorded with an expressed desire to pay tribute to the singer's grandmother's influence in singing hymns to him as he was growing up, here are 10 relatively familiar hymns that are beautifully arranged, creatively spiced up or stripped down, and either belted out with a gospel wail or crooned with a soulful tone by Millard. I like pretty much every track on this album, but "Sweetest Name I Know" stands out as my favorite, with a too-fun-for-words upbeat arrangement with an upright bass thumping along, drums, steel guitar, flute, and some things I can't quite identify. Plenty of guest musicians lend their talents on this one, and Millard (best known for MercyMe's "I Can Only Imagine") shows surprising vocal versatility. Overall, one of my favorite albums from the last half year. Click here for a more detailed review by an outside reviewer.

"A Collision" - David Crowder Band (2006/01/04, 2006/04/03, 2006/10/18)
Short review: Not as straightforward as "Illuminate", with much more of electronic rock influence. This album took longer to grow on me, but it turns out that I enjoy it for different reasons that the previous album. Enjoyable mishmash of genres that actually works, including straightforward pop/rock, slow-burning electronica, hyperactive punk, and out-of-nowhere bluegrass. Doesn't transition as smoothly between tracks (the interludes don't flow that well, including one wholly unnnecessary recorded telephone conversation that I always skip). Some lyrical improvement from the previous album, with musings upon death and depravity, but most of these songs aren't necessarily "congregational worship" type - and I think that it's a good thing. Let Tomlin and others write the easily listenable melodies, the DCB is more on the creative/unusual/unexpected side of things. Overall, another above-average album whose best tracks are better than on "Illuminate", but doesn't flow as well. Favorite songs: Be Lifted or Hope Rising, Do Not Move, Come Awake, You Are My Joy, Our Happy Home. Click here for a more detailed review by an outside reviewer.

"Illuminate" - David Crowder Band (2006/01/01, 2006/03/20)
Short review: Top-notch instrumentation, including Dave Matthews-like acoustic riffs on several song intros. Creative use of violin and a turntable to accompany standard acoustic / electric / piano / bass / drums mix. Mostly upbeat sound. Lyrics tend towards the simpler side, sometimes awkward and occasionally cheesy. Overall, an above-average record, very catchy. Top songs: O Praise Him (All This For A King), Open Skies, Intoxicating, All Creatures #2. Click here for a more detailed review by an outside reviewer.

===================

I'm what you would call a "close" listener of music. On receiving a new album, I'll typically listen to it three times before passing judgment - the first time to get an overall feel of the album, the second to listen to the musical mix, and the third to listen to the lyrics. This is one of the reasons why I don't typically have music on in the background, at work or at home - I would focus on it too much.

I intend to update this post throughout the year with the different albums that I listen to (usually over the course of several days in the car). As the journal gets larger, I'll begin writing short reviews and ranking the new albums throughout the year so by the end, I'll have a list of my favorite ones from 2006. The current album I'm listening to will always be listed to the right in the "About Me" section of the blog, with a link back to this post, so visit often!

Sunrise

The sun sets, and the sun rises... and usually they look very similar. With the close of 2005 and the opening of 2006, I felt it was time for a change.

Welcome to the new Musings of a Blindman. The old one, with all of its bombast, wordiness, quizzes, and perhaps an actual thought or two can be found at http://blindman-archive.blogspot.com.