City Rescue Mission

Justin and I were very fortunate to be part of a City Rescue Mission service tonight. We led worship for the service and were so blessed by the people there. After the service, we talked to some of the people. A guy came up to me who used to play viola and had actually made All-State orchestra when he was in high school. I let him play my violin, which he was really excited to do. It was sad though, b/c I wondered what made him get from being an all-state musician to being a homeless man. He alluded to drugs in his past, so that was probably what derailed him. But it was such a blessing to talk to him and let him play my violin. Justin let some of the guys play his guitar too, which they loved. It was just such a neat experience-hopefully we can start going there regularly. It would be fun if some time we could watch all of them lead worship!

Avatars at church

I just ran across something that really bothers me. And it concerns a local church that many of us are familiar with that ends in .tv. I looked at their website because I read about how people can raise their hands to be saved by clicking a button on the computer. That in itself really got to me. Accepting Christ into your life is supposed to be a life-changing experience, not a click of a button. I've always been skeptical of this church because it seems to rely so heavily on their "internet campuses." I think this whole going to church on the internet thing totally defeats the purpose of what church is supposed to be about: community and fellowship. How do you do that online? I'm sure some may say, there is an "online community," but you can't have meaningful relationships or experiences with God or other people on the computer!

So after looking at the website a little more, I saw something about "Second Life." This is the description of it:

Second Life is an Internet-based 3-D virtual world which enables its users to explore, socialize, participate in individual or group activities, and create and trade items and services from one another. In Second Life, users create avatars (3-D characters) that they use to interact and communicate with each other via a text chat (audio chat is coming soon) or by making gestures.

Using avatars to socialize and participate in activities?!!! What happened to meeting with people in person and engaging in meaningful conversation face to face? What happened to having people over to your home or going to a restaurant and hanging out? What happened to worshiping together as a community and serving others as a community?

We all need to be around others. We need human touch, we need human interaction, we need common experiences. I just don't see how this church thinks taking out what makes churches human is acceptable.

I know there are good people that go to that church and many of them probably actually meet with other church members and have meaningful conversations and experiences togther. But why would you want something so impersonal and sterile to be such a big part of your church?

Everyone is clergy.

Everyone is clergy. Everyone is called to serve,
To create, to communicate,
To participate with our good Creator
In the making and remaking of our good world.
Everyone is clergy. Everyone is called to stand,
To struggle, to suffer, to trust and to love,
And so to join in the unmaking of injustice and
In the liberation of earth from every form of sin.
Everyone is clergy. Everyone is called to holiness,
To faithfulness, to health, to growth,
To serenity and activity,
To the practices of life
In the kingdom of God.
All our daily work is holy. Every act of service,
Every deed of neighborly kindness,
Every smile or sigh, every touch or tear
Can be a sacramental act expressing the presence of the living God.
Every drop of sweat that falls in honest labor for the common good
Joins with every movement toward others
In the daily liturgy of human work.
Some are given special gifts to equip and inspire others for this daily work of faith
And labor of love.
All are channels of grace, given, received,
Shared in a symphony of many voices and instruments,
So the earth may be filled with the glory of God.
You are clergy. So am I. Together
We are called to learn God’s music of life
In the unique instruments of our bodies, our persons, our times, our settings.
Then we are sent out to play it with joy and sincerity wherever we go.
Together we are part of a truly apostolic succession:
The people of God sent into the world, generation after generation,
As Jesus was sent by the Father,
In the power of the Holy Spirit,
For the good of the world.
So let us work and rest together,
Let us play and sing together,
Let us by our faithful lives bring glory to the true and living God.
For we are all clergy
And we are all called.

-Brian McLaren

Freaky test

My friend Martha had this link on her blog. It's a test to see whether you see the dancer going clockwise or counterclockwise, to tell if you are right-brained or left-brained. At first, she was going clockwise, then counterclockwise after I looked at it again. But most of the time she was going clockwise, so I guess I'm mostly right-brained. Crazy!


http://www.news.com.au/perthnow/story/0,21598,22492511-5005375,00.html

In Rainbows

If you have NOT gotten to listen to the Radiohead album yet, don't read this. I don't want to give you preconceived notions. I'm still deciding on how much I really like it. I think it's really good, but I don't know if it's one of my top ones. But it may be. Who knows? Sometimes it takes a little while before you really know what you think of an album.

1. 15 Step-I really, really like this one. It makes me want to dance, actually. It just has this really cool beat to it. I love percussive stuff. (It sounds like I'm talking about Fergie or Gwen Stefani type music, doesn't it?)
2. Bodysnatchers-This one isn't one of my favorites. It's not bad, I mean it's Radiohead, you know? I do like the guitars though-they remind me a little of the rock stuff in the Bends. And then there is the weird "Kid A" sounds in it-I get a little tired of that weird noise sometimes. Just a little too "noisy" for me. I guess I'm getting old.
3. Nude-This song is beautiful. I love songs that highlight Thom Yorke's haunting voice. Very nice and mellow. Almost like a lullaby. I love the ending, how the melody just kind of climbs up.
4. Weird Fishes/Arpeggi-This one is kind of middle of the road for me.
5. All I Need-Cool bass line thing. Distorted bass maybe? I know they've used that before. Kind of dark and menacing.
6. Faust Arp-Love this one! I really like the weird rhythm in the melody. And of course I love the strings. This is one of my favorites. What the heck does Faust Arp mean?
7. Reckoner-The percussion is cool in the beginning. I liked the little melody line at first, but it gets kind of old after listening to it a few times. Reminds me a little bit of Moby (I like Moby, but his melodic lines can get tiresome). Overall, though, it has a cool feel to it.
8. House of Cards-I really like the little rhythmic guitar feel at the beginning. And cool echoey voices. Cool guitar effects. Or whatever it is. A little redundant.
9. Jigsaw Falling Into Place-Really cool intro with acoustic guitar, bass, and drums. And then some cool haunting voices. This is a really cool song. I like how it builds. This is a really different sound for them. They just don't use much acoustic guitar, at least in this context. I like how he uses his lower register in this song. I love his high pretty voice, but it's cool when he sings in a lower register too. And then as it builds he sings in his higher register. Very cool.
10. Videotape-Love the piano intro. So pretty. Love Thom Yorke's voice. Love the driving rhythm even though it's a delicate song. I like it when his voice moves with the piano. It's so cool when the drums come in. It almost sounds like a death march. (Did I read that part about the death march somewhere? Well, it fits.)

I guess my favorites so far are tracks 1, 3, 6, 9 and 10.

The Family

Why Radiohead is even cooler than we thought...

Radiohead is distributing their new album (which comes out October 10!!!!) through their own website (no record label involved at all) and they are letting their fans pay as much as they want for it. Read this from www.greenplastic.com.

Buzz is everywhere this morning about Radiohead's decision to release a new album on their own through inrainbows.com. We caught wind of this Time article which is a good read, especially the part about how the labels are reacting:

While many industry observers speculated that Radiohead might go off-label for its seventh album, it was presumed the band would at least rely on Apple's iTunes or United Kingdom-based online music store 7digital for distribution. Few suspected the band members had the ambition (or the server capacity) to put an album out on their own. The final decision was apparently made just a few weeks ago, and, when informed of the news on Sunday, several record executives admitted that, despite the rumors, they were stunned. "This feels like yet another death knell," emailed an A&R executive at a major European label. "If the best band in the world doesn't want a part of us, I'm not sure what's left for this business."
Labels can still be influential and profitable by focusing on younger acts that need their muscle to get radio play and placement in record stores — but only if the music itself remains a saleable commodity. "That's the interesting part of all this," says a producer who works primarily with American rap artists. "Radiohead is the best band in the world; if you can pay whatever you want for music by the best band in the world, why would you pay $13 dollars or $.99 cents for music by somebody less talented? Once you open that door and start giving music away legally, I'm not sure there's any going back."

Poor record industry...

What happened?!?!

My Sooners fell apart today! Bye-bye national championship. So sad.

EfM

I'm really excited, because I'm getting ready to start a very intensive study of Christianity-it's a 4 year program called Education for Ministry (EfM) that's basically the equivalent of 3 years of seminary. I'm not wanting to be a pastor or anything, I just want to learn more background about the faith I have had my whole life. I'm a little nervous as well, because I know a lot of people that go to seminary or Bible college or anything that has a really intensive Bible/theological focus can really start questioning their faith after doing all that intensive study. But I think it will be really amazing, and my husband survived Bible college and still has his faith, so I'll hope for the best!

If you want to check out their website, it is www.sewanee.edu/EFM/index.htm.

Here is a little bit about it:

Participants in the EfM program study the entire sweep of the Christian tradition from the earliest period to the present. Participants learn the disciplines of biblical exegesis and interpretation, systematic theology, church history, ethics, liturgics, and ascetical theology.

The traditional content is not studied in a vacuum. Students belong to small "communities of learning" in which the events of each person's life may be examined in the light of the materials being studied. While the course materials provide substantial academic content, the focus of the program is on life as ministry and understanding that ministry. EfM provides Christians with that basic skill which is the foundation of all Christian ministry -- theological reflection. In doing this, participants sharpen their skills of personal and cultural assessment and enhance abilities to be effective in a variety of ministries.

Brilliant Quote of the Day

I just called to pay a bill over the phone. Here is the conversation.

Me: Can I speak to someone in the billing department?
Them: Is this about a bill?

Where do they find these people??!!

How are the White Stripes at the top of the list?

Rolling Stone did some survey, and Radiohead was named #2 in the "Best Live Band Playing Right Now" list, behind the White Stripes who took the #1 honors. Here's the top 20:

1. White Stripes
2. Radiohead
3. Pearl Jam
4. Rage Against the Machine
5. U2
6. Metallica
7. Flaming Lips
8. My Morning Jacket
9. The Hold Steady
10. Arcade Fire
11. The Raconteurs
12. Wilco
13. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
14. Red Hot Chili Peppers
15. Gogol Bordello
16. Kings of Leon
17. Muse
18. Dave Matthews Band
19. Tool
20. LCD Soundsystem

White Stripes play fun music but nothing to write home about. And I can't imagine them being that amazing live. Anyone seen them live? I can say from personal experience that Radiohead is AMAZING live. Even though I've already seen them, I would still want to see them again before I saw anyone else in the world.

Here is a really good website for all things Radiohead:

www.greenplastic.com

Radiohead-head

Ok, all you Radiohead fans out there:

What is your favorite Radiohead Album and why? (Thanks to Mike for this great suggestion as a topic.)


By the way, they are possibly going to release their 7th album by the end of this year.

Sweeney Todd...

...is going to be a movie!!! I'm so excited!!! I played in the pit at the Pollard when they did it and loved it. The music is by Sondheim and is really cool. Dark, but cool. It's a very disturbing story but it was one of my favorite musicals that I've ever played in. Johnny Deppy is Sweeney Todd and Helena Bonham Carter is Mrs. Lovitt. It looks really scary! I'm interested to see how they sing, b/c I heard they all had to take voice lessons so they could sing their parts. The music is really hard, so I bet that was a challenge for anyone that has no musical background. I think it comes out in December. So excited!

Shattered glass and confessions of a dangerous mind

We just watched Shattered Glass last night. It was a really good movie. It was based on the true story of this young journalist at the New Republic (Stephen Glass, hence the title Shattered Glass) who made up most (or maybe even all) of his news stories. It was really interesting b/c this guy was one of the nicest people who no one believed could have done it and yet at the same time, you saw this kid that just could not tell the truth. Even when backed into a corner about if his strories were factual or not, he just kept making up more elaborate lies and went to great lengths to cover his tracks. Just an interesting look at a very complicated guy.

This movie reminded me a little bit of another movie Justin and I watched awhile back called Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. It was another "based on a true story" about Chuck Barris, who hosted the Gong Show. He claimed that he was a CIA assassin who killed people while escorting his prize winners on their vacations. No one really knows if it really happened or not.

Intriguing movies. Check them out.

Evolution of a music listener

Usually, as you grow up, your taste in music evolves. What you listened to as a child, you gave up as a teenager. What you listened to as a teenager, you gave up as an adult. Or maybe you never gave up any of the old music but just added more variety to what you listen to. Whatever the case, your taste in music has probably changed over the years. So what did you listen to...

1. As a child
2. In middle school
3. In high school
4. In college
5. Now

So our son is a bookworm too...

...for more funny pictures of eli, go to the story of eli (link on the right).

Now I'm stealing Jenn's idea...

...about discussing music. Actually, I was planning to anyway, this just reminded me that I really wanted to do it. So I hope YOU don't mind, Jenn. :) To see Jenn's music discussions, go to A Musician's Musician blog in my links. Anyway, I have fallen in love with Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova. They are the stars/singers in the movie Once, which I am still dying to see. I was already a fan of The Frames (Glen Hansard's band from Ireland), Now I'm a huge fan of he and Marketa Irglova. The soundtrack to the movie (as well as another CD they did together, called Swell Season) is absolutely some of the most beautiful music I have ever heard. They do the most beautiful harmonies together just play music that you fall in love with. They are true musicians and I get chills listening to them. Go check them out on Itunes and tell me what you think.

So I can't have a book blog without mentioning Harry Potter

I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan. I really am a Harry Potter nerd. I read all of them 3 times (except for the last 2-the sixth book I read 2 1/2 times b/c the last book came out before I could finish the 6th one for the 3rd time) and I just haven't gotten a chance to read the last one again. But I will! And I'm sure I'll read them many more times throughout the rest of my life. They are that good. I think they get better each time you read them. J.K. Rowling just has a way of creating this whole other world that you get totally wrapped up in. It's a world you love full of characters you love and adventures you love.

So, for any other Harry Potter nerds out there, here are some questions (IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE LAST BOOK BUT ARE PLANNING TO, DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER)

1.What did you think of Snape in the end? Did you still hate him, did you think he redeemed himself, or do you think he only partially redeemed himself since he still had so much loathing in him towards Harry?

2. Should Harry have died? Or do you think the ending was as it should have been?

3. What did you think of the epilogue? Should she have left it out or did you like how it wrapped everything up?

4. Is J.K. Rowling the greatest storyteller of our time?

Short survey

1. What are you reading right now (and would you recommend it?)

2. What was one of your favorite books as a child? As a teenager? Why?

Here are my answers:
1. The Glass Castle-definitely yes so far!
2. Hop on Pop because it was funny/Anne of Green Gables b/c I always loved the character in the movies immensely, and the books were just as great (I know that's backwards, but I saw the movies first).

Ok, I want to hear from you!

My book blog

I just started this new book, called The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. I've only read about 38 pages of it and I am already hooked. There was a really cool quote in it that I wanted to share with people, and it made me think, "Hey, it would be really cool to start a blog where all I do is talk about books I'm reading or have read, or what others are reading." So here it is. And here is the quote that inspired me:

Background: This author's mom (the book is a memoir) decides to paint various paintings of a Joshua tree where they live. Apparently these trees grow in the direction the wind pushes them, so they lean so far over they seem "ready to topple, although, in fact, its roots held it firmly in place." The author (as a little girl) thought it was ugly but her mom thought it was beautiful. When the author finds a Joshua tree sapling, she wants to dig it up and plant it near their house. She tells her mom she will protect it from wind and water "so that it could grow nice and tall and straight."

Now I'm finally at the quote:

"Mom frowned at me. 'You'd be destroying what makes it special,' she said. 'It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.'"