My Weblog

Another 4th of July down... what lies ahead?

            

Thanks to Zach for this post. It's from Bob Herbert’s column in today’s Times:

"The symbols of patriotism — bumper stickers and those flags the size of baseball fields — have taken the place of the hard work and sacrifice required to keep a great nation great.

You know that matters have gotten out of hand when, as we learned this week, American instructors at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, gave classes on torture techniques used by the Communists to extract false testimony from American prisoners during the Korean War.

Talk about defining deviancy down! As Al Gore reminds us, this is the first time in American history that “the executive branch of the government has not only condoned but actively promoted the treatment of captives in wartime that clearly involves torture, thus overturning a prohibition established by Gen. George Washington during the Revolutionary War.”

There are signs galore of the nation’s turn for the worse. We are fighting a debilitating war in Iraq without any idea of how to pay for it — or how to end it. No one has any real idea about how to cope with the devastating energy crisis, or how to turn the economy around.

The airline industry is a first-class mess and the knees of the General Motors colossus have buckled. Locks are being changed on foreclosed homes across the country and working families lucky enough to meet their mortgages are watching the value of their homes decline.

We can build spectacular new stadiums for football and baseball teams (the Yanks, the Mets, the Giants and the Jets are all getting ready to move into staggeringly expensive new homes) but we can’t rebuild New Orleans or reconstruct the World Trade Center site destroyed almost seven years ago."

*The feint glow of the silver lining here is that yesterday was Bush’s last Independence Day as our president. Obviously, much thought and hard work are necessary to rescue our country from it’s depths, but competent leadership will help immensely.

I find myself agreeing with this post. I am almost done with politics myself, as I am uncertain if our country will ever have the leadership it so desperately needs. We have our priorities mixed up from my viewpoint... the building of new sports facilities over cities and states ravaged by disaster, resources and money funding a war across the globe when our very economy is crumbling right before our very eyes. It is all quite saddening. I am ready for a candidate to step out and change something, to begin the process of setting things right. Republican, democrat, libertarian, christian or not, someone needs to be real in a world of fake. Hopefully we won't have to wait another four years for the wheels to start spinning.

You guys have any thoughts on the article?

         

Soda Sobriety

So today I begin a new venture of getting healthy. Today I am starting my water diet. I am giving up soda and cutting back my sweet tea intake to 3 meals a week, so I had better choose them wisely!

I think I have just come to a place where I want to be in better shape, for my daughter (2 more months), for my wife (aw yeah!), and for myself. I kept looking at pics from high school and from playing soccer and I noticed just how in shape I used to be... no lie! I used to be lean and able to run for miles! I can safely say, everything's different now.

So in light of all of that I am starting anew and the clear beverage located to the immediate left is what I will be sipping on for drinking purposes. It's actually felt good today, but I see some caffeine  withdrawal in my future. It's worth it though.

Oh yeah, and if you're out with me, feel free to make sure I'm doing what I'm supposed to... you never know when you might need some accountability. 

Monday Night Pick Up

So tonight was freaking awesome! At 5:00pm today I met up with 12 friends, some co-workers, some just compadres, and we play pick up. This was the first time I had played organized soccer since high school... varsity for 4 years and then I just dropped off when I hit college to focus on music.

Tonight I found out how out of shape I really am and it just spurns me on to play more and do more to get back in shape. We played from 5pm to 7pm and everybody was worn out and drenched in sweat. Myself, I was hurting from my boots. I haven't worn my spikes since high school and that was a mistake. My feet have grow almost a whole size since then. Needless to say I am sporting some blisters at the current time and they don't feel great.

As of now we're going to start playing weekly on Monday nights at 5:30pm and I am so excited. I'm excited, not only to be playing soccer again, but to be spending some great time with friends. Everyone had a great time and I look forward to Monday nights.

Keeping the songs coming...

So this is my second post in this category and they should be coming more frequent here very soon.

When this new spark of writing began I was spending a great, when I say that I mean it, amount of time with a guitar, pen, and paper. I got about 10 out in a rapid amount of time. As of right now, 5 of those 10 have seen their way into the Sunday morning sets. I have to say that there is something gratifying when you see something you've spent time creating being welcomed and used to glorify Christ. Yes, there is something gratifying on the art level, but when you see people connecting with God through something you've made it becomes so much more. The words I have tried to use to convey a message and then having other be able to take those words and make them their own is truly humbling. If that continues to happen, whether I play a song for worship or a song for people to simply hear, then I consider what I'm doing worth it and a privilege.

I am currently in the process of refining the other 5 and see what becomes of them. Will they end up just for me and sitting in my growing library or will they be songs for the church? Time will tell. In the midst of those I have written another this week which we will be doing tomorrow morning. I wasn't even sure about it after I was done, but I decided to bring it to rehearsal and see what happened. To my surprise the band loved it....

*Let me pause for a second to say that I welcome praise and critique with open arms, but I take them with a grain of salt.

As I was saying, the guys loved it. So we got it down it will debut in the morning. I like the way it sounds, but who knows, in the pursuit of a great song it could find itself undergoing some reworking at some point.

After I wrote the new song this week I made a decision to focus my energy on writing new song every other week. It sounds hefty, but mind you that doesn't mean that each song will be ready for playing. Some will need more revision, some will need a change in melody, some a new chorus, and others a new title. I want to make great art, but I also want to make consistent art. It's all part of the process that I'm learning.

I also want to add that I actually feel more like an artist than I have before in my life up to this point. I think creating on a consistent basis, making new things and ideas that are fresh. Making things that don't always fit into the commercial mold (I will save a rant on the christian music industry for a later post). I think those are some of the things that allow for the title of an artist.

So the songs are coming, the posts will be coming, and the excitement that I have for this is growing greater and greater everyday.

I guess there wasn't a screening process...

This is an older post of mine that speaks for itself. I am speechless still.

Books You'll Actually Read

Coming soon... Mark Driscoll's newest writing effort. A series of 4 books on The Old Testament, The New Testament, Who God Is, and Church Leadership. Driscoll is the Lead Pastor of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, Washington. I can't wait.

Not Again!!!

  Even with Dutch legend Marco Van Basten (left) at the helm, the boys couldn't pull it off. Today the Netherlands fell to Russia 3-1 in extra time.

I don't really know why it was a surprise, they normally do well through the opening rounds then squander it all away in the quarters, sometimes even the semis. I think commentator Tommy Smith had it right this whole competition, they didn't have enough skill in the back to thwart off an real offensive threat. The defense couldn't keep up with the Russians to save their lives and in most instances they looked as if they weren't even trying. 

So it's now another wait, this time for the World Cup 2010... only 2 more years and the Orange get another shot to do something.

It's not a total loss though, there are still some amazing games coming up and I think I'm now pulling to see a Germany/Spain final. I think that would be top notch.

"Music" In Worship

Here's another clip from a previous post. Renowned teacher of things related to worship, Bob Kauflin, sits down with Mars HIll Worship Pastor, Tim Smith. I always take something away from these guys.

Teardrop

Possibly one of my favorite songs of all time, Teardrop (Massive Attack), was recently covered by a pretty phenomenal musician in Newton Faulkner. This is such a haunting and beautiful song and I think he does an impressive cover. The first video is Faulkner and the second is the original. Enjoy both.

Newton Faulkner

Massive Attack

WOW... is it wrong that I'm laughing?

Thank you Los for posting a picture that made me laugh while feeling very confused. I'd really like to meet the guy(s) who came up with this thought. Just to sit in the room when the idea came into their heads.