Second Drafts

Have Biblical Imagination, Will Travel

Off again this weekend, this time to Willowick, OH. Here's a new video with Mike filmed at March's Biblical Imagination conference in Normal, IL, for a peek at what this is all about.

When Presbyterians Rock

I always have a good time visiting different churches and meeting some really neat people as part of our Biblical Imagination conferences. This weekend, we're in Normal, IL, and I got a kick out of my fellow Presbyterians' attempt to rock.

(For those not in on the joke, you usually don't put a digital piano up on an x-rack.)

On the 10th Anniversary of September 11th

Never mind the fact that it's my favorite U2 song and the single greatest performance in the history of SuperBowl half-time shows, but I remember how healing and powerful U2's 9/11 tribute was in February of 2002. Even watching it now, I'm blown away by the visual of bright hope emerging from the dark background of tragedy.

Maybe this (among other reasons) is why, ten years later, my sense of grief is not as personally paralyzing as it seems for others. Some may roll their eyes, but in reflecting back, I think Bono and the boys helped me deal with it then...not completely unaffectedly I'm sure, but in a way that allowed me to move on.

"Where the streets have no name
Where the streets have no name
We're still building, then burning down love
Burning down love, and when I go there
I go there with you, it's all I can do"

For those struggling with today's 10th anniversary of the 9/11 bombings, I hope this can be of some comfort to you. (Thanks to my friend, Al Li, for reminding me of this tribute.)

U2: A Recap

Freedom

 
I just finished up the weekend at Bible Fellowship Church in Sebring, Florida, as part of the Biblical Imagination conference with Michael Card. We had 90 folks from all over the state join us for 24 hours of teaching, listening, and learning together from the book of Luke. I'm very tired, but, as my father would say, it's a good kind of tired.

In reflecting this morning at the hotel before we (the Biblical Imagination team of Ron, Holly, Susan, Mike, and me) drove to Tampa to catch flights back home, I wanted to share a little about a man named Calvin whom we met here in Sebring.

Calvin has the build of a small NFL wide-receiver: broad shoulders, wiry but strong (in fact, I grinned when he came to Mike's concert last night in a football jersey as it just seemed to fit). Though he looks young from a distance, when you get face to face, you realize he's older than he first seemed - probably in his fifties - as the lines in his face run deep and there's a depth to his eyes that makes you want to hear his story.

While I didn't get all the details, the gist is that Calvin (who has St. Louis roots) spent 22 years incarcerated before he came to Christ in the last six years of that time. He got out of prison and is now being helped through a ministry here in Sebring called Little Lambs led by John and Eileen Sala, who were also at the conference (John, a native of Brooklyn, had once been in prison as well).

All through the conference, Calvin sat with the Salas and soaked up everything Mike and I taught about Luke, biblical imagination, and responding to Jesus. Warm, kind, and with a great smile, he asked questions, interacted, and even contributed a few observations that blessed all in the room. In response to our last "assignment" at the end of the conference, he shared a parable of his life that brought tears to the eyes of many as he described growing up as a boy who never really knew love.

After almost every song that Mike played at the concert last night, Calvin had some kind of one-word verbal response - "Yes" or "Amen" or "Thank you" - that he felt free to share because of the acceptance of God and those in the room. Toward the end of the concert, as Mike was introducing "Freedom" (my favorite song from his new "A World Turned Upside Down" album), he commented that of all the people in the room, this one might mean the most to Calvin, who beamed. The lyrics are as follows:

I am lost and I am bound
and I am captive to the shame that keeps on holding me down
And all I need to be found is freedom

I am tired and I am dying
and I am trapped inside a cage I've made of hopelessly trying
But the door would open and I'd be flying if I could find freedom

Freedom, freedom
All the burdens we have borne, all the losses that we mourn
Cry out for freedom, freedom

Prison walls and bolted doors
Something keeps on telling me that I was made for more
That there is Someone Who can restore my freedom

A gentle voice I can't evade
speaks in the darkness of the heart and whispers "Do not be afraid"
You can be free, the price was paid for your freedom

Freedom, freedom
From the darkness of the night, from desolation to delight
Freedom, freedom
The chains are broken, the door is open - He is your freedom

It was a beautiful, beautiful picture of the gospel - certainly in Calvin's life because of his story of imprisonment, but also for the rest of us whom Christ has freed from our own "cages of hopelessly trying." I was too tired to cry, but I wanted to - thanking God for what he has done in Calvin's life, in the lives of those there, and in my own as well. The weekend let me speechless as - in the words of Luke - I am both "amazed and astonished" at God's love for me, a sinner.

Christmas Eve Assembly Goes Digital

Some do Christmas Eve assembly with wrenches and screwdrivers; I do it with Photoshop and InDesign. Here's the U2 concert poster I put together tonight for the girls to unwrap together on Christmas morning. Since this concert will be their first real rock show, we thought such a milestone merited a customized promotional piece they can hang in their rooms to build anticipation (not that that will be a problem - they're all already big fans).

Just training them up in the way they should go...or something.

Coming to St. Louis in 2011

In case you missed it, the website I've been working on for musician/author Michael Card's Biblical Imagination Series just went live this weekend. I used Clover Sites to create it and am impressed (still) with how easy and well-thought-out their content management system is (I've worked with plenty of lousy ones in the past and this was a dream).

For those in St. Louis, we're bringing the conference to Chesterfield Presbyterian Church all day on Saturday, January 15th, with Mike doing a concert on Sunday the 16th. The cost is only $58 for the conference AND concert ($78 if you want Mike's new book and album coming out next year as well - see site for details), and I can personally vouch for the quality of the experience (though the emcee/education guy's a little suspect).

Whether you've read the Bible for years or are just starting out in the Scriptures, this one-day conference would be well worth your investment in cultivating greater biblical literacy and love for God and His Word. Hope to see you there (and please help spread the word about the new Biblical Imagination website and Facebook community - thanks).

Music Week 2010

 

Here are the songs from this year's Discerning Ear Project in Ethics class. The gist of the project is that the kids bring in music (MP3s with lyric sheets) and explain it as fitting in one of three moral categories (good, bad, or neutral); thus, we spend the week listening, discussing, and debating meaning and morality.

After they spend a week wrestling through the difficulties of trying to categorize their music (dualism example: If there's some good and some bad in the song, does that then make it neutral?), we then talk about a more Reformed way of approaching things, asking what we can affirm in each song, what we should challenge, and (and this is where it gets dicey), what our listening responses should be in light of passages like 1 Corinthians 10:31, 1 Thessalonians 5:22-23, and others.

There was plenty of new music this year that I wasn't familiar with, but I confess nothing really stuck out enough to make me want to instantly (or even eventually) download it. Take a look through the songs and bands and let me know what I ought to take a chance on the next time I have some iTunes money.

• 100 Years by Five for Fighting
• Accidents Can Happen by Sixx A.M.
• American Honey by Lady Antebellum
• Apologize by One Republic
• Away from the Sun by 3 Doors Down
• Beauty from Pain by Superchick
• Bicycle Race by Queen
• Billionaire by Travie McCoy (featuring Bruno Mars)
• Black Rock by O.A.R.
• Buddy by Musiq Soulchild
• California Stars by Billy Bragg and Wilco
• Cat’s in the Cradle by Harry Chapin
• Chicken Fried by Zach Brown Band
• Chop Suey by System of a Down
• Cleaning this Gun by Rodney Atkins
• Dance Anthem of the 80’s by Regina Spektor
• Dead and Gone by T.I. (featuring Justin Timberlake)
• Dear Life by Anthony Hamilton
• Dynamite by Taio Cruz
• Eclipse (All Yours) by Metric
• Everything by Michael Buble
• First Date by Blink 182
• Ghetto Gospel by Tupac (featuring Elton John)
• Grassman by Dodgy
• Handlebars by The Flobots
• I Am the Walrus by The Beatles
• I Run to You by Lady Antebellum
• I Was Made for Lovin’ You by KISS
• If It’s Love by Train
• If You’re Reading This by Tim McGraw
• Imagine by John Lennon
• Just the Way You Are by Bruno Mars
• King of Anything by Sara Bareilles
• Lasso by Phoenix
• Laughing With by Regina Spektor
• Live and Let Die by Guns ‘N Roses
• Love the Way You Lie by Eminem (with Rihanna)
• Maxwell’s Silver Hammer by The Beatles
• Man in the Mirror by Michael Jackson
• Mr. Brightside by The Killers
• My Generation by Nas and Damien Marley
• My Heart by Paramore
• Narwhals by Weebl’s Stuff
• Needle and Haystack Life by Switchfoot
• Not Afraid by Eminem
• Play the Song by Joey & Rory
• Pray for You by Jason and the Long Road to Love
• Put Your Records by Corinne Bailey Rae
• Roxanne by The Police
• Scapegoat by Epik High
• Second Chance by Shinedown
• Show Me What I’m Looking For by Carolina Liar
• Sing for the Moment by Eminem
• Snuggle Song by Schnuffel Bunny
• Sorrow by Flyleaf
• That’s What Youth Is by No Brain
• The Cave by Mumford and Sons
• The Man Who Can’t Be Moved by The Script
• The Show by Lenka Tricky by RUN D.M.C.
• Queen Jane by Bob Dylan
• Walk Like an Egyptian by The Bangles
• What I’ve Done by Linkin Park
• Where is the Love? by the Black-Eyed Peas
• Unthinkable by Alicia Keys
• Vengeance by Yngwie Malmsteen
• Yellow Submarine by The Beatles

We Interrupt Our Normally Non-Scheduled Weekend...

Here are some groovy events - several of which I'd love to see a familiar face at if you're in the area - that I'll be part of in the next six weeks. (If you or anyone you know has questions about the conferences, click the links or let me know and I'll fill in details.)

SEPTEMBER

17-18: Griggsville Apple Festival (Uptown Square, Griggsville, IL)
I've written about this cultural tour de force before, but words and pictures just cannot do justice to my hometown's annual fall celebration; you just have to be there. That said, I'm once again looking forward to more time on the farm (now in harvest mode) since our Labor Day visit two weekends ago, as well as to seeing some former high school classmates from back in the day (when you graduated in a class of 30, it doesn't take much to have a yearly class reunion each September).

24-26: Annual Fall Family Camping Trip (Babler State Park, Wildwood, MO)
We always schedule this trip the weekend following Parent/Teacher conferences (after talking with parents for six hours straight and the struggles many of them are having in connecting with their students, I'm usually newly motivated to spend time with my own kids). New activity this year: the family bike ride, as all six of us are bike-mobile (now we just have to figure out how to get all six bikes there).

OCTOBER

1-2: Tour de Cape (Downtown Pavilion, Cape Girardeau, MO)
Speaking of bikes, I've been pseudo-training (about 30 miles/week) to take my first "century ride" this weekend with a couple of co-workers (both of whom are much better bikers than I am). I've never before ridden 100 miles in a day, so we'll see how much Advil it takes to do it when it's all said and done.

8-10: Biblical Imagination Conference with Michael Card (Fredericksburg, VA)
I wrote about this not too long ago, and it seems a little strange that we're less than a month out already. I'm pretty stoked to hang out on the east coast with Mike and company. This is the first conference of what I hope are many to come, so if you're too far from D.C. this time around, hang in there: odds are we'll be coming to you soon.

15-17: TwentySomeone/ThirtySomewhere Conference (Memphis, TN)
My good buddy, Mitchell Moore, is a pastor at Second Presbyterian in Memphis, and he's asked me to come down to speak at a retreat for peeps in their 20s and 30s. Revisiting the material (as well as working on some new for the next book) has been really fun, and I'm still "smokin' what I'm sellin'" (figuratively speaking, of course) in terms of making the most of these decades. Megan and the girls are coming with me, and we'll sight-see around Memphis on Saturday afternoon.

22-24: Megan at The Relevant Conference (Harrisburg, PA)
The good news: I'll be home (and probably won't leave the house if I can help it); the other news: Megan won't be. As she did in Colorado in July, my wife will be taking in another blogging conference - this one of a more devotional than technical nature - in Pennsylvania. I'm interested to see what comes out of her time there, as well as to what degree the two conferences overlap and supplement each other.

That's all for now. We now return you to our normally non-scheduled weekend...

Biblical Imagination: New Opp w/ Michael Card

When I was 14, a friend of mine gave me my first Michael Card cassette, Scandalon. The year was 1985. Though quite different from the music my friends were listening to at the time, I was desperate for anything that spoke of my new friend, Jesus, who had just introduced Himself to me a few months earlier.

Thirty days later, I had worn out the tape.

While I enjoyed the richness of Michael’s distinct voice and memorable melodies, I was more intrigued by the words and phrases that made up his profound lyrics. Sadly, growing up in my small-town Methodist church, I had not heard much about (let alone begun to understand the meaning of) “the stone that makes men stumble and a rock that makes them fall” (Scandalon), or that “the Lamb is a Lion who’s roaring with rage” (The Lamb is a Lion), or that when we follow Christ, we are following “God’s own fool” (God’s Own Fool). I was fascinated.

Though little of the language made sense to me at the time, I kept listening (though I had to get another tape—where were CDs when I needed them?). I also began reading (barely) the Scriptures, which I didn’t understand much at first, either. But whether listening to Michael (and others), or “semi-reading” the Bible, the imagery of it all stuck with me, dancing in my high school-aged head at night, sparking a hunger and thirst within me not only for this imagery’s meaning, but for being able to respond to its meaning. That’s what the power of creativity can do...and that’s what it has done in my life.

In 2002, as the program director for The Navigators Glen Eyrie Group, I booked Mike for a series of conferences/concerts at the Glen and insisted he be part of planning them. This was surreal for me and new for Mike (he had never had the opportunity to actually speak into the planning of a retreat for which he had been booked), and together we created the Scribbling in the Sand Conference on Creativity.

Twenty-five years since that initial listen to Scandalon and five years since our last conference days, I'm flying to Nashville this weekend to hang with Mike, as he has asked me to join his team as a creative adviser/collaborator/teacher for the next stage of his ministry. Mike has just signed a four-book deal on the topic of biblical imagination with InterVarsity Press, has a new album coming out in February, and wants to converge all these together in a weekend retreat/conference experience beginning next year.

Because of our friendship and past ministry together, he's asked me to help, both as a facilitator and as a co-teacher like we used to do back in the day. I'm thrilled, especially since a majority of the teaching he's doing these days is in the summer, which works well with my own teaching schedule during the school year at Westminster Christian Academy.

As a friend of mine mentioned as we were having breakfast this morning, God does not waste a thing in our lives. Indeed, to trace the hand of God through all of this has been yet another significant lesson in the reality of God's sovereignty and the importance of our faithfulness in the littlest of things. I don't know all that lies ahead (whether with Mike or otherwise), but I do know that God does, and he has proven himself trustworthy far too many times throughout history (the world's and my own) to doubt him.

I'm sure I'll have more after the trip, but in the meantime, thanks for any prayers you may offer on my behalf. Pray I'll be faithful to what God (and Mike) may be asking me to do as part of this new opportunity, as well as to what I'm doing now here in St. Louis.

For Sale: Old School (But Good as New) MIDI Rig

Maybe it's just because we had a yard sale this weekend or the fact that I've finally come to grips that it's the end of an era, but I'm putting my old school (but still good as new) MIDI rig from back in my music days up for sale on Craig's List. Let me introduce you:

 

• Alesis DMPro 20-bit expandable drum module (with power cord) - $300
  This was one of the last pieces I bought and quite a step up from its D4 predecessor. I used a lot of sounds off this one for the last band album, but would have liked more time with it to really turn it loose.
• Alesis D4 16-bit drum module (with power cord) - $100
  The first drum module I bought, mostly for the Phil Collins gated snares. Not nearly as complicated as the DmPro, which was good since I was trying to figure out to make this work with everything else outside of my Ensoniq SQ-2 controller/sequencer.
  
• Alesis DataDisk universal data storage module (with power cord) - $50
  The first module I ever bought. It's really nothing more than a glorified 3.5" disk drive, but it not only saved but played MIDI sequences directly, which made me feel like I knew what I was doing a bit.
• DBX 166A compressor/limiter module (with power cord) - $150
  Compression makes all the difference in a music mix. I couldn't have told you the reasons, but I could usually tell when there was too much or too little compression going on from what I heard. This unit, then, was what got tweaked.
• Ensoniq Footswitch Model FSW-1 - $5
  This was what I used for my sustain pedal on my first Ensoniq (I later got another one with the second SQ-2 a friend gave me). Basic foot switch that worked for other functions as well.
• Key Midiator MP-128 2 input x 8 output MIDI router (with power cords) - $35
  Nothing really fancy, the Midiator was one of two MIDI routers I used to try to sort signals once I started sequencing from a laptop. The digital interface is a serial port and made the whole setup look so, well, computerish (which used to be cool).
• Lexicon Reflex dynamic MIDI reverb module (with power cord) - $150
  Lexicon makes good reverb units, and while this one wasn't high end, it did the job live. It was nice having this in the studio to throw on an instrument or two, but it wasn't studio level quality for vocals (though its more expensive brothers were).
• Nexus Plus 2 input x 8 output MIDI switcher (with power cord) - $35
  I used this - the analog version of the aforementioned digital MIDI router - exclusively to route MIDI signals before a laptop was involved and I was sequencing everything on-board the SQ-2. Very old school feel with the set of eight three-position switches.
• Roadgear 4-space rack - $75 (or free with purchase of at least four modules)
  This was my first and only module rack and I was so giddy when I had to buy it because it meant I had more than one module to handle. By the time I got up to four, you would have thought I was opening for Howard Jones or something.
• Roland JV-880 multi-timbral synthesizer module (with World Expansion Board SR-JV80-05, PCM1-04 Grand Piano 1 card, and power cord) - $200
  This was the workhorse and the most complete piece I ever bought. The piano, horns, strings, basses, and organs were all great on this unit, but when I bought and added the World expansion board with bagpipes, that was the pinnacle.

As it says in the listing, all units are fully-functioning and in pristine condition (no scratches whatsoever on faceplates; all buttons, knobs, and lights original and intact). They've only had one owner (me), and I took really good care of them while they were in my charge (they were, after all, like friends in a way, as we spent a whole lot of time sharing "ideas").

Musically, these modules are real "meat and potatoes" units, and their sounds still keep up with the newer (and more expensive) sound modules today. Financially, I've priced them to move, as they're easily less than half (some barely a quarter) of what I paid for them. Personally, since these tools were important to me, I'd like to find someone who will give them a good musical home in which they get plugged in and played more than they have with me in past ten years.

If you know anyone who might like to get his/her hands on some great retro keyboard gear for a really good price, send them the link. And, if you'd like to hear some of the music I made back in the day with all this gear, click here and download 15 of my songs for free. Either way, I hope someone enjoys the music...then, now, and in the future.

Concert Review: Jewel

Thanks to Megan's nifty networking, we enjoyed free tickets/backstage passes to see Jewel when she came through town last weekend. We were big fans when she first came out 12 years ago or so, but hadn't really kept up with her music that much since (to our loss). Wow. What a performer.

The concert was at The Sheldon, which was a nice venue - pretty simple and basic - that allowed Jewel's storytelling and songwriting to nicely color the evening. Her new stuff was as good as anything she's done, and even though she's shown up on the country charts in recent days, she's ever the singer/songwriter who feels most at home with a guitar, a mic, and a crowd.

Here's a little video montage of the evening Megan put together, along with a few thoughts after the show from me. My performance is hardly as animated as Jewel's as we were standing in the lobby after the show and I felt a little self-conscious talking to the camera with everyone milling around, but you get what you pay for.

I'd write more, but since it's almost a week since the show, here's a review that does a nice job summing up my own musical observations. Nice evening all around.

Summer 2010 Preview, Etc.

Sitting here on a Sunday night listening to some Lucinda Williams and doing a little writing. It's been a while since I've done a summary post of sorts, so since Megan and the girls are out of town and we're collectively an entire season behind to really make the LOST finale worth watching, here are a few things I've been thinking about and/or looking forward to:

School: This week is finals week, so I'll be spending most of my time grading. The good news is, unlike the past three years when I was evaluating projects and papers, I'm going into finals week with nothing other than finals to grade, so that should make for a little less consuming week in general.

In other school news, I've signed on for another year at Westminster, but my role is changing a bit as I'll be leaving the world of freshmen New Testament behind for fourth section of sophomore Ethics and one section of senior Worldviews next year. I'm glad for the transition all around.

One last note on the school front (this time the homeschool front), we're going to be entering a new stage of education here at home. This fall, our two oldest girls will be full-time students at Central Christian School in Clayton, while Megan continues leading the Classical Conversations group and homeschools our younger two (here are details from Megan's perspective).

Summer: In addition to writing (more on that below), my primary goal in June is to hang out with the little ladies, read some books, and get a few projects done around here. In addition, I'll help coach our Westminster summer baseball team for a week in June, as well as get trained on some new school information software, as I've been asked to be a mentor teacher to the rest of the staff this fall.

July ups the ante considerably in terms of travel, as we're planning a family trip to Colorado Springs, as the girls are now old enough (somehow) to attend The Navigators' camping programs (Eagle Lake and Eagle's Nest) we helped lead back in the day. I'll try to see as many folks as I can in a few days' time before I jump on a plane from Denver to Portland for my third year as part of Westminster's Summer Seminar. This time, I'll be investing ten days with 25 soon-to-be seniors in Washington state instead of South Dakota, after which I'll fly back to Colorado and then we'll all drive back to Missouri.

August sees staff reporting as earlier as the week of August 9th, but I'll have a few publishing projects to edit and design from the Washington trip, as well as a fair amount of prep work to finalize for my new Worldviews class. Orientation starts the 12th and the first day of class is the 16th.

Studying: Despite baseball high-jacking my time and energy, I've been reading in a couple areas of interest this spring, not the least of which has been the study of the end times, or eschatology. N.T. Wright's book, Surprised by Hope: Rethinking Heaven, the Resurrection, and the Mission of the Church, has been helpful, as has revisiting my notes from seminary (particularly Dr. Dan Doriani's notes from his Epistles and Revelation class). Of the three years I've taught Revelation to my freshmen New Testament classes, I feel like I've done the best job this year.

I'm also finishing up a couple books on education, namely John Dewey and the Decline of American Education by Henry T. Edmondson III, Curriculum 21 edited by Heidi Hayes-Jacobs, and The Secret of TSL by William Ouchi. It seems I've been reading these for a while (and I have), but there's been some good content that's come as a result.

Looking ahead, I have some Worldviews reading to do this summer, including (Re)Thinking Worldview by J. Mark Bertrand; The Compact Guide to World Religions edited by Dean C. Halverson (ed.); The Journey by Peter Kreeft; Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey; and The Universe Next Door by James W. Sire. Should be fun.

Writing: Now that my second book, Learning Education: Essays & Ideas from My First Three Years of Teaching, is finished, I'm turning back to finishing the ThirtySomewhere manuscript this summer. I'm still looking for a formal publisher to get behind it, but now that I've experimented with the self-publishing gig a bit (and am still experimenting), I may go with what I've got at some point this fall and see what happens. We'll see.

I plan to continue blogging here, though I really wonder how much people are interested in anything longer than 140 Twitter characters these days. Speaking of which, I've enjoyed Twitter enough to keep using it, but there again I just have no way of really knowing how far the medium's actual reach is so as to invest more time in it. Oh well.

Guess that's it for now. There's more, but this is long enough. I'll try to post a few more thoughts later on this week (nothing brings out literary creativity like the desire to avoid grading). Have a good one.

Concert Review: Jason Aldean

And now for something completely different...

Megan somehow scored free backstage passes, a private "concert"/photo op (with eats and drinks), and free tickets to the Jason Aldean concert at the Family Arena in St. Charles Saturday night. I don't know how she finds this stuff, but I've learned over the years not to ask too many questions so as to not attach myself as an accomplice in whatever illegal activities she may engage in for a cheap date night. But I digress...

Let's be clear: while I appreciate the lyrical cleverness of country music, I'm not that big a fan of the musicality of the genre. Still, a free concert's a free concert, and since "She's Country" at heart, Megan and I went and enjoyed the gig. Jake Owen ("one of People magazine's sexiest men in country music" - oh boy) was the opening act, but everyone was clearly there for Aldean.

Rather than write a detailed review that no one may particularly care to read, I thought I'd record a video blog (vlog) to pseudo-capture the evening. What follows are my hardly technical, barely coherent, and honestly raw thoughts on the show.

Thanks to Megan for her filming/editing job, as well as for treating me to more culture than one man should be allowed to experience in a night.

O Canada (revised)

A friend of mine in Colorado is in a fun but fierce battle with a Canadian friend of his over the outcome of the Olympic gold medal hockey game in which Canada beat the U.S. My friend asked me to write a parody of the Canadian national anthem to use as ammo.

Here's the original (click here to listen):

O Canada!
Our home and native land!
True patriot love in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North strong and free!

From far and wide,
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free!
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

Below is my version (click here to sing along). Keep in mind the following is all of 5 minutes of work, stereotypically-dated by my coming of age in the 80's (so take off, eh?):

O Canada!
Our home and TV land
True luck that we have Captain Kirk's command.

With glowing hearts made warm by beer
and McKenzie brothers two!
S-C-T-V,
O Canada, we raise remotes to you.

God keep us warm, laid back and free.
O Canada, we love to watch TV.

O Canada, we love to watch TV.

Other lyric suggestions?

We Were Young and We Were Improving

When we moved from Colorado back to the Midwest five years ago, Megan got her first real taste of my tiny hometown's passion for all things basketball and baseball. While she mocked it a bit then, she's since come around to a more accepting position, which was helpful this month, as I was invited back to Griggsville to join in celebrating the career of my junior high school coach, Ken Stauffer.

Coach Stauffer's coaching legacy includes 1,130 wins split between Griggsville's seventh and eighth grade basketball teams, countless regional and sectional trophies, two state basketball championships (with more appearances), and induction into the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association Hall of Fame. He retires with something north of a .750 winning percentage with only two losing seasons over his 38-year career. (For the record, the 7th and 8th grade teams I played on were a combined 39-2. Booyah.)

 

Speaking of those teams, here are seven of the eight guys in my grade who played for Coach Stauffer all through junior high school. Six of the seven of us went on to experience continued team success in our high school years, and as this was the first time all of us had been together in Griggsville in 25 years, a picture seemed appropriate.

As part of the celebration, the school had pulled out a lot of old trophies and pictures, one of which I had completely forgotten about from 1982, but that Megan and the girls found particularly humorous. I was one of two fifth graders to make the eighth grade team that year, and though I didn't get to play in the tournament, I went on to enjoy good success in both junior and senior high baseball later (my only real credential for what I'm doing this spring...ahem).

 

All that to say, it was a fun weekend at home honoring Coach Stauffer, seeing old teammates, and reliving a few of the glory days. Granted, Megan reminded me of her original Uncle Rico post, and my girls couldn't quite believe I was once the age that my oldest is now, but to quote my favorite Midwestern poet:

That's when a sport was a sport
And groovin' was groovin'
And dancin' meant everything
We were young and we were improvin'

Laughin', laughin' with our friends
Holdin' hands meant somethin', baby
Outside the club, 'Cherry Bomb'
Our hearts were really thumpin'

Say, "Yeah yeah yeah"
Say, "Yeah yeah yeah"

-- from "Cherry Bomb" by John Mellencamp

Yeah.

File Under "What Was I Thinking?"

Not sure I get the ending, but why have I not listened to Regina Spektor before now?

Mid-Week Memo

It's been a while since I've done a random links post, so since it's mid-week and I'm always looking for an excuse not to grade something, here are a few items that might strike someone's fancy:

• It's tough being married to a celebrity, as more and more people know me as "Megan's husband." This will probably continue for at least another month since I'm married to one of the six official members of the St. Louis Mom Squad. The cool part is the role comes with new wheels (temporarily, that is - click link for details).
• As it was a slow day in the bookstore yesterday, I read the first 75 pages of Donald Miller's new book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years. The first couple of chapters have some great quotables about understanding life as story, and the following chapters provide humorous illustration of the ideas. I liked it.
• My wife and daughters are pretty excited that Owl City is coming to The Pageant in January. Megan is contemplating getting tickets for all of us to go as a family, which I'm presuming would probably be different from their normal crowd.
• I've always wanted my own op-ed column in a newspaper; this opportunity with the Washington Post may be my big break (of course, it requires me writing something for consideration - any suggestions?).
• In case you hadn't heard, I reluctantly started using Twitter a few weeks ago. While I'm still evaluating its real value (some general stats), I have enjoyed following/stalking a few people here and there (search for "SecondDrafts" to see whom, as well as to follow me if you like).

That's it for now. I need to finish well the day so as to get ready for the black tie/red carpet vehicle pick-up tonight with the Mrs. and Misses. Honestly, I don't mind being "the husband," but the paparazzi can be annoying.

U2: A Memoir

I remember being sixteen in 1987 and standing in the middle of multiple four-foot-high stacks of black Joshua Tree LPs in a music store in Munich, Germany. People were going absolutely nuts to get their hands on the albums, but as I had not yet made the band's acquaintance, I just stood and watched for a while, wondering who these guys were and why they seemed to mean so much to my European counterparts. Finally touched by the madness, I bought a cassette and brought it back with me to the States.

That was all it took.

As I alluded in my earlier post this week, U2's music has played as a meaningful soundtrack to the second half of my life, especially the last 8-10 years. As is true for many fans, the albums through the 90's were not some of my favorites (though there were still some great songs, particularly on Achtung Baby), but when the band came back with All That You Can't Leave Behind in 2001, I remember feeling the way I did in Munich again. Who were these guys, and why did the music they made mean so much to me?

Much of my affection for U2 then had to do with where I was in life at the time. I'd just transitioned roles with The Navigators and was investigating a possible missionary opportunity in Uganda (the album served as the soundtrack for my first trip to Africa). Bono's lyrics to songs like "Walk On" were particularly motivating, as I wanted nothing more than to do what God wanted me to do long-term, but I just wasn't sure what exactly that was (though I was pretty sure it was along different lines than what I was doing then).

By the time the next album, How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb, came out at the end of 2004, it was again the same feeling, both musically and in terms of ministry. Perhaps not surprisingly, it was right around this time that we decided to make the huge transition from Colorado Springs to St. Louis to begin seminary. Thankfully, Megan had come to love the band as well, and as we were moving to the Midwest in the spring and then to St. Louis that summer, we decided our last fling before I began Greek in June would be to see U2 in May in Chicago on the first leg of the Vertigo tour (which, by the way, got recorded as part of this).

Wow. We said it then and we still say it now: wow. Greatest concert ever.

Like every true U2 fan, we have all the albums and enjoy the "standards" from each, but the last two albums (along with Joshua Tree) hold the most meaning for me. I remember totaling my car in high school swatting at a fly while listening to "Where the Streets Have No Name" (consider the irony); I remember Megan and I deciding, after making up from yet another awful fight, that "With or Without You" was "our song" (in case you're wondering, it still is); I remember semi-seriously planning my funeral in my head in case I didn't make it back from Uganda the first time, wanting "Walk On" played for the benediction (thankfully, I safely returned); I remember standing alone in the middle of our seminary apartment that first summer listening to "Sometimes You Can't Make It On Your Own," literally weeping because of all the insecurity I was feeling (there was a lot of it).

The list could go on, but I won't bore you with my reminiscing. The good news is that we've got a new set of songs to play and play again - good songs with actual melodies we can sing and lyrics with real meaning we can take from and add to (in other words, what we've come to expect from and experience with U2 all these years).

The girls know and love U2's music and they all have their favorite tunes. One dream I have is to take them all to a first concert before they fly the coop. Will this album's tour be the one we all make? I don't know, but how cool for them if they could say, "My first concert was U2." Surely that experience would count for something when we're all sitting in family therapy ten years from now.

All that said, if you haven't picked up No Line on the Horizon, consider this a heartfelt recommendation - it's good and gets better with every listen. And, if you've got something to add from your own U2 experience, feel free to express yourself in the comments - always enjoy hearing the stories associated with this great band.

The Kids Are Growing Up

A thought crossed my mind this week that I'll throw out to see if it sticks. For many of you, this may fall in the "I could care less" category, but since I spend a majority of my time with teenagers, I'm interested.

It seems to me there's a major generational shift going on in the teen entertainment business. For instance, earlier this week, the MTV show TRL (Total Request Live) took a final bow after ten years of attracting the "biggest and hottest recording artists, actors and celebrities on most weekday afternoons," all while playing "the most iconic videos of the day." For better or for worse, a majority of the boy bands, pop tarts, and rappers of the past ten years got a whole lot of promotion via TRL, a fact wonderfully and cynically documented in the 2001 movie (not the 70s TV show) Josie and the Pussycats, one of my favorite commentaries on the youth culture of the time.

But that's not all that makes me think about a shift occurring. This weekend, the movie Twilight - teen romance with unfortunate vampire issues - comes out, and the teen world all over will be filling theaters for weeks on end tomorrow to see it. I was intrigued by a comment one of the girls in my class made when, commenting on the "hot or not" looks of the movie's Edward character (Jane Austen fans, imagine a teenage Mr. Darcy with fangs), she said, "He's not even really that cute. All the cute guys - with the exception of Zac Ephron - are older."

Hmmm.

Finally, I don't know if anyone's seen the trailer for J.J. Abrams' new Star Trek movie, but there's nary a recognizable face among the actors playing the new (and young - very young) versions of Kirk, Spock, Scotty, et. al. Granted, Abrams' name is the draw (he of Alias and Lost fame), but with him at the helm, it's interesting there isn't more familiar young "star power" (notice I didn't say "talent") attached.

Is something going on here? Anyone have any thoughts, or am I just spending too much time with high schoolers? My interest is not in the fact that I'm getting older (I know that already), but in the fact that the youth culture of recent years seems to be.

NKOTB

They're coming...and I'm as excited about their music as I was the first time around.

(That is, not very.)

Taking a Break from Boxes Linkage

It's been a long while since I've posted some linkage, so in light of it being Friday, here you go:

• We're still in need of about $1,000 for our home closing (in four days), so if you've yet to take advantage of our $10 Gets You 15 Songs deal, now is the time.


• In case you're wondering, Megan thinks she's losing it (but she's really doing okay).


• My friend, Jeff Morrison, sent me a link to the Breathe 2008 conference he's leading at Glen Eyrie next month. Between Jeff's heart and abilities in worship and the beauty of the place, this will be a good conference for all involved.


• Looking for a new bike? Consider (or don't) the vicious cycle. (hat tip: Coudal)


• Two weeks from today: The X-Files: I Want to Believe. Bring it.


• Interesting piece in Slate about the challenges public schools have to overcome to hire and keep good teachers.


• The folks at Mental Floss have some pretty clever T-shirts for sale. My favorites: Apathy, English Major, Entropy, Beethoven, and Hyperbole.

We're off to take a black lab named Bruce to his new home on the farm. Have a good weekend.

Over Halfway There: Update

As Megan and I are six days away from closing on our house, several of you have asked about the latest on the Remember Not to Forget project. An update would seem in order. Currently:

• The download page for the songs has had 116 visits.


• We have $1167.49 in hand.


• We are aware of at least another $350-400 on its way.


• We can confidently say we're halfway toward our goal of $3,000.

Though the $1,000+ jump since our last update is exciting, it hasn't come through the kind of viral networking we're still hoping for. While we had several hundred dollars' worth of song purchases (thank you), we also had two major gifts ($500 and $250) that made up the bulk of the jump. This was great, but we think our idea still has yet to reach its full potential of taking over reaching the greater blogosphere.

That said, with some broad linkage (which still really hasn't happened) and some good word of mouth about the songs and the difference ten little dollars can make here, we're confident we'll see what we need come in. But it needs to happen soon. Pray with us that it will (and, if you haven't yet, buy the songs and link us up - check out Kerri, Ashley, Tim, and Jess for examples).

(Note: If you're leery of recommending songs without hearing them or don't have $10 to spare, go ahead and download them, listen, and (if you feel good doing so), link us up. I'd also love to post a review or two here (check out Ken's brief comment), so if anyone has more time than money, download the songs, listen to and write about them, and send me your thoughts (and no, you don't have to love - or even like - every song). I'll post your review as is, I promise.)

Three easy ways to buy:

1. For those who would like to pay online, go to Revolution MoneyExchange, log in, click “Send Money,” and enter my email address (cmdunham [@] gmail.com). (Note: If you don’t have an RME account, it’s a nice thing to have; just click below to sign up - it’s free - and we’ll also get a $10 referral fee.)
   


2. For those who would prefer to pay by PayPal (sorry: non-credit, non-debit payments only), log in, click “Send Money,” and enter Megan’s email address (halfpinthouse [at] gmail.com).


3. For those who would rather just send something, please make a check out to Craig Dunham and mail to 8827 Litzsinger Road, Brentwood, MO, 63144.

In the Air Tonight

Brian Rutland, my first drummer (no, he didn't die the death of a Spinal Tap drummer) is now a pastor in Littleton, CO, and sent me this clip. We used to "cover" Phil Collins's "In the Air Tonight" using lyrics I rewrote from more of an eschatological perspective ("I can feel Him coming in the air tonight" - yeah, it sounds hokey, but it so worked live). The kids (and Brian) would go nuts when he came in with the big drums, and guitarist Dan Madison and I rocked out with him for minutes on end. I laughed long and hard at this one.

Review: Hideaway by The Weepies

It would be easy enough to relegate The Weepies to little more than a soundtrack band innocuously featured (as they have been) on TV shows like Gossip Girl and One Tree Hill. After all, Deb Talan’s voice is just pretty enough to be ignored and Steve Tannen’s melodies seem simple and familiar, all of which works well to pad any magical moment when a plot turns, a kiss is shared, and the sun sets over the ocean at just the right time.

But weeping for The Weepies and any supposed demotion to primetime teen/twentysomething television is not necessary, especially when their new project, Hideaway, is what it is – an album of melancholy and meaning that maintains a healthy equilibrium between the two without falling headlong over itself in doing so.

Hideaway’s title track is a chronicle of sorts of The Weepies’ past couple years of being stars in the spotlight. “We were empty,” says Talan (on their website). “We both felt dark after being in the bright lights for a year. We were looking to reconnect with what moved us about music in the first place. We needed to hide out and write.” Or, to put it another way: "Take the sky / for example / a canvas of a billion suns / but our local hero / shines them out by day / save for the winking of a Venus or Mars / even the stars / sometimes fade to gray / even the stars / hideaway.”

One thing I appreciate about The Weepies’ songwriting is what seems a genuine curiosity about (and struggle with) life – from “Little Bird”: “Sometimes it’s hard to tell the truth from the lies / nobody knows what’s in the hold of your minds”; from “Takes So Long”: “Sam and Libby / Lib and Sam / made a little one of them / a baby's born a man to die / I don't know why / I don't know why”; from “Lighting Candles”: "Trying not to hope too hard / for what I want / trying not to go too far / with all the dreaming / all the disappointment / so hard to handle / I’m still in the dark / lighting candles.”

Relationships (good/not so good) are another songwriting theme, with plenty of good songs about the challenge of living with and loving others – from “Wish I Could Forget”: "Standing in the sun / smoking quiet cigarettes / just before I let you down / funny how a heart shatters all at once /seems like it should make a sound.” “All Good Things,” a tune about a break-up, resists bitterness and offers blessing (despite a wee bit of fatalism – “all good things come to an end”) instead: "I was accustomed to showing you / all good things (all good things) / oh I wish you / all good things (all good things) / come to an end / all good things (all good things) / oh I wish you well.”

Personally, I didn’t care that much for “Old Coyote” or “Just Blue,” as they seem the weaker of the 14 songs both musically and lyrically; still, while not the strongest of songs melodically, they don’t take away from the overall tone in terms of feel – from “Just Blue”: “Look into the window / see what's caught my eye / duck in to avoid the rain / a baby wants to cry / so do I / so do I.” Again, perhaps a bit melodramatic on its own, but within the context of the song and the album, it fits, just as another rainy day in an overly rainy week sometimes feels even though its all too familiar (and we’ve all had days and weeks like those before).

“How You Survived the War” obviously has some kind of back story I’d be interested to know more about to better understand the song, so I hope that comes up in future interviews, as it’s a little vague without more background.

Some will complain that Hideaway is too “produced” to truly be pop “folk,” but you’ll get no complaints from me; the layers (strings, pads, Rhodes, piano) surrounding the clean acoustic and rhythm guitars are tasteful and subtle as the musicians backing the duo make good use of the stereo spectrum. While the artists are not afraid to use a little more reverb than most in the genre might (palpable more through headphones than speakers), it’s appropriate in keeping the vocals (especially the harmonies, which are unusual and exact) from being too painfully dry.

Some songs are better mixed than others (“Orbiting” is too squishy with reverb, even for me), but I like Talan’s voice layered over and over to create backgrounds with personality (though I’m not a fan of her voice molted – or doubled – on some of the leads as it makes her sound a little too non-human). Tannen’s voice is plain but accessible on the songs he sings lead on (I especially like him on “Can’t Go Back Now” and “Not Dead Yet”) but his singing is best suited to the tight backgrounds on songs like “Antarctica,” which is the catchiest tune on the disc.

The song’s last track, “All This Beauty,” is a cheery reminder of our human need to find and embrace beauty wherever and whenever we can: “All this beauty / you might have to close your eyes / and slowly open wide / all this beauty / we traveled all night / we drank the ocean dry / and watched the sun rise.” This positive parting thought is set to music that would fit well on any road trip mix, playfully (but purposefully) reminding us that in a world as broken as ours, sometimes the pursuit of beauty is, indeed, a pursuit.

That said, whether pursuing the beauty of creation or the messages within The Weepies' Hideaway, either way “it's a matter of getting deeper in / anyway you can.”

Recommended.

We Aren't the World

In case you were wondering, the 50th annual Grammy Awards are tonight on CBS. I'm not planning to watch, so let me know what you think if you do. Maybe I'm just getting old, but the idea of watching four hours of a drawn-out awards show for music that does nothing for me seems somewhat masochistic. Besides, I've got papers to grade.

I don't really enjoy music these days. Let me qualify: I don't really enjoy new music these days. I've felt this way for a while now (that is, at least 8-10 years), and the stagnation of our music library here at home is a product of my perspective. Practically, we have no budget allocated for new music, but even if we did, I wouldn't know what to spend it on - there's just so little new out there that really appeals to me anymore.

With all this in mind, I was intrigued by Nick Marino's lead article in the just-out March issue of Paste magazine. Titled "What I Miss About Michael Jackson" and reflecting on the 25th anniversary of Jackson's 1982 album Thriller (a strange content choice for Paste's focus on "organic and eclectic music"), Marino's article reads:

"[Jackson] was a pop star of almost unparalleled popularity. After Elvis and The Beatles, he was it - the biggest. I miss the shared cultural experience that only a star of this magnitude could create. I miss the way MTV used to hype Michael Jackson videos, and the way everyone used to crowd around the TV to watch them. The short film Michael released in conjunction with "Thriller" is certainly the most influential music video of all time, the one that thrust videos into the realm of art, the catalyst that completed the transition of music from an audio medium to an audio-visual medium."

"Michael also changed the notion of superstardom. He blew it up bigger than anyone in his generation, and bigger than anyone after...stardom of that magnitude isn't necessarily healthy for an artist. For fans, though, it creates a sense of awe - or, I should say, it created a sense of awe. Celebrities don't really make us awestruck anymore. They annoy us with this ubiquity, like mosquitoes. In a weird way, they're not famous enough. We now have more stars than ever before, but fewer megastars...there's something awesome about the whole world singing the same song or watching the same video, worshipping at the same altar."

Paste editor Josh Jackson, perhaps bracing for the inevitable barrage of mail that's coming in light of his editorial decision to lead with Marino's pop piece, qualifies the March issue:

"My tendency is to fight bleary-eyed nostalgia in all things music-related. I get tired of aging boomers proclaiming that all music was great in the '60s or the '80s and everything sucks now, when we live in a uniquely exhilarating time for music and enjoy a growing number of ways to discover it."

Jackson (Josh, not Michael) then hits the nail on the head of what I've been feeling:

"Despite the self-satisfaction that comes with the idea that mainstream culture is too dim for the music we love, the mass communal aspect that came with those great bands of the '60s - the experience of discovering The Beatles, the Stones or Dylan along with the rest of the country - is dead...

Now our attention is split a thousand ways. Music no longer has primacy in our culture, and celebrity doesn't bother with actual music anymore; it feeds itself. There are still plenty of celebrities who sing, but most of them are more famous for being famous than for their songs. We don't know their music. We only know who they're dating and what they wore to the Grammys. And audiences remain splintered, not just among genres but among the thousands of indie bands posting to MySpace and YouTube."

I have to agree with protest rocker Neil Young, who late last week said, "I know that the time when music could change the world is past. I really doubt that a single song can make a difference. It is a reality." Sad, isn't it? I think so. It's that potential - that one song could really change the world - that I find myself missing and lamenting in today's "I write for me and me alone" brand of music. This is why I buy so little of it anymore...and why I listen to even less.

Michigan, Smichigan

Yes, I know the Republicans just had their third winner in three primaries and I should probably have thoughts, but I'm a little politicked out. These links seem more interesting:

• Here's 100 Things We Didn't Know Last Year according to the BBC


• I had no clue as to the campaign to Free Vermont as reported in Good Magazine


• No pun intended, but these Rules of Thumb are handy (hat tip: Dooce)


• This piece on The Epistle of Van Gogh from Makoto Fujimura is worth reading


• "Nothing says innovation like an MP3 player/taser combo" (hat tip: Unclutterer)


• For all Carrie Underwood fans: Cletus Take the Reel (hat tip: Palm Tree Pundit)

The King Turns 73

Me: "Happy birthday, Elvis."

Elvis: "Thank you, thank you, thank you very much."

At The Pageant Tonight

Megan and the girls are heading out of town to visit my sister and her family in Tremont, IL, and I've got four free tickets to the The Pageant tonight for the Ticketmaster New Music Spotlight show with local/regional bands The Feed, Red Water Revival, John Henry & the Engine, and Caleb Travers & Big City Lights.

Doors open at 7 and the show starts at 8, but I probably won't get there until at least 9 (if not later) as I'm taking a class this weekend at Covenant. As far as I know, my friend Caleb (who I'm really going to see) doesn't go on until last anyway, so I'm hoping to show up just as he and his band take the stage.

Anybody want to go? You don't have to wait to go late with me (if, that is, we can figure out how to arrange a ticket drop sometime today). First come, first served (and yes, if someone wants all three tickets, that's fine - as long as you go). Leave a comment to get in line.

Just trying to share the love...

Music Project

For the past week in my three Biblical Ethics sections, we've taken a short break from studying morality and the ancient philosophers of the world and consulted the more contemporary ones my students know - the songs and various musicians on their iPods.

The assignment was pretty simple: each student was to bring in a song, pass out copies of the lyrics, and the class would, listen, and evaluate the morality (or lack thereof) of the songs. Each student facilitated the discussion/debate of his or her song, and then presented his or her own perspective along with any research done on the artist.

The object of the lesson was to help students listen more critically to their music, analyze it in the context of community, and then figure what (if any) response each of them as individuals might need to consider as well as how and why to hold that particular conviction. Romans 14 was a key passage I walked through with them as we evaluated the experience together today.

In case anyone's interested, here's their songlist (not meant as any kind of endorsement):

• "All the Small Things" - Blink 182


• "All Falls Down" - Kanye West


• "Amish Paradise" - Weird Al Yankovich


• "Banana Phone" - Raffi


• "Be My Escape" - Relient K


• "Before He Cheats" - Carrie Underwood


• "Better Than Drugs" - Skillet


• "Bukowski" - Modest Mouse


• "B.Y.O.B." - System of the Down


• "Coffee Shop" - Yung Joc Feat and Gorilla Zoe


• "College Kids" - Relient K


• "Construct and Collapse" - Becoming the Archetype


• "Crank That Batman" - P.O.B. (Pop It Off Boyz)


• "Crazy 8s" - MAE


• "Dance Inside" - The All-American Rejects


• "Down on the Farm" - Tim McGraw


• "Forever Young" - Rod Stewart


• "Girl Next Door" - Saving Jane


• "Give Me Novacaine" - Green Day


• "Glamorous" - Fergie


• "Gospel" - The National


• "Grace Kelly" - Mika


• "Hate Every Beautiful Day" - Sugarcult


• "Heal Over" - K.T. Tunsell


• "How Far We've Come" - Matchbox 20


• "If Everyone Cared" - Nickelback


• "I'll Be Missing You" - Puff Daddy/P. Diddy and Faith Evans


• "Imma Shine" - Youngbloodz


• "Industry" - Jon McLaughlin


• "Iris" - The Goo Goo Dolls


• "Jesus of Suburbia" - Green Day


• "Jesus, Take the Wheel" - Carrie Underwood


• "King Kong" - Jibbs (featuring Chamillionaire)


• "Less Talk, More Rokk" - Freezepop


• "Like a Boy" - Ciara


• "Love Don't Love Me" - Eric Benet


• "Midnight Bottle" - Colbie Caillat


• "Mistakes" - Kutless


• "New Slang" - The Shins


• "On the Turning Away" - Pink Floyd


• "Photograph" - Nickelback


• "Potential Break Up Song" - Aly & AJ


• "The Riddle" - Fire for Fighting


• "The Setting Sun" - Switchfoot


• "Smile" - Lily Allen


• "Shut Up and Drive" - Rihanna


• "Snow (Hey Oh)" - Red Hot Chili Peppers


• "Sorry, Blame It on Me" - Akon


• "S.O.S." - Rihanna


• "Technologic" - Daft Punk


• "Umbrella" - Rihanna (featuring Jay-Z)


• "Untitled" - Nathan Talley


• "Video Killed the Radio Star" - The Presidents of the United States of America (originally written and recorded by The Buggles)


• "Videos" - Flame


• "Vultures" - John Mayer


• "Wake Up Call" - Maroon 5


• "Wasted" - Carrie Underwood


• "When I'm Sixty-Four" - The Beatles


• "When It Rains" - Gretchen Wilson


• "You Can't Always Get What You Want" - The Rolling Stones


• "You're My Best Friend" - Queen


• "You're Not Alone" - Saosin

The Mancrush Continues

Apparently, U2's new album is already written. Not sure on the release date, but it will be good to hear from the boys again. I just wish Bono would return my calls.

The mancrush continues...

Rockin' the Casbah

I played piano and sang during the offertory in church yesterday - the first time in our two years at Memorial, and the first in a very long time of singing my own song anywhere. The grand piano felt and sounded great, and my performance was as good as I could have hoped for considering the time that had passed since last playing (not to mention the little practicing I'd done - I hate rehearsing).

Most importantly, people seemed to love the idea of Scripture stories set to rock piano, so that was cool, especially when encouraging comments came afterward from folks of all ages (the song is kind of an Elton John meets Keith Green tune about Caleb and Joshua and their different response from the ten spies after scouting out Canaan in the Old Testament). My five-year-old's evaluation was perhaps the most flattering (if biased): "Daddy, you rocked it!" This means a lot coming from the one member of our family most given to hip-hop.

It's been so long since I've experienced a sense of connection with people through music; I had almost forgotten what it felt like. What was even more interesting was playing a song only on piano that was one of the most "produced" tunes I'd recorded, complete with a Phil Collins-esque drum track and horn arrangement, background vocals, and a killer piano track I could never play (Mike, my studio engineer and resident musical genius, played it on the album). If you'd like to hear the original, click here (keep in mind, this was 12 years ago).

When we were in the studio back in the day (mid-90's), Lori, my producer, used to say that the great songs are the ones that translate regardless of arrangement, and it was affirming yesterday that that's what seemed to happen with "Into the Promised Land". I don't know if it's a "great" song in the "great song" sense, but I wouldn't say it blows chunks, either.

While it doesn't need to be soon, I hope to do something like that again. It was nice to play for people who knew me as part of their community (and weren't just with me for a short weekend conference); it was also nice to play an original song for a receptive congregation rather than have to play someone else's song in hopes that it would at least be "familiar" to an audience. That always felt like selling out, and I'm grateful not to have struggled under that expectation yesterday. For those who were there, thanks for that. It was a very meaningful thing.

Now Taking Recommendations

I've got a $10 iTunes gift certificate burning a hole in my pocket and am now taking recommendations for one album (no partials) of ten songs worthy of such redemption.

Post your recommended album title, artist, and demo link (as well as a sentence or two why this album and not another) here between now and Friday. Winner gets my musical gratitude.

Musical Comfort Food

On the heels of a paper on predestination and a long week of way too much theological reading (yes, there is such a thing), I put on an old CD late this afternoon and remembered how much I miss the melody and meaning of one Rich Mullins. Mullins wrote musical comfort food, and it's hard to believe he'll have been gone ten years this September. Here's "Hard to Get":

You who live in heaven
Hear the prayers of those of us who live on earth
Who are afraid of being left by those we love
And who get hardened in the hurt

Do you remember when You lived down here where we all scrape
To find the faith to ask for daily bread
Did You forget about us after You had flown away
Well I memorized every word You said
Still I'm so scared, I'm holding my breath
While You're up there just playing hard to get

You who live in radiance
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in skin
We have a love that's not as patient as Yours was
Still we do love now and then

Did You ever know loneliness
Did You ever know need
Do You remember just how long a night can get?
When You were barely holding on
And Your friends fall asleep
And don't see the blood that's running in Your sweat
Will those who mourn be left uncomforted
While You're up there just playing hard to get?

And I know you bore our sorrows
And I know you feel our pain
And I know that it would not hurt any less
Even if it could be explained
And I know that I am only lashing out
At the One who loves me most
And after I have figured this somehow
What I really need to know

Is if You who live in eternity
Hear the prayers of those of us who live in time
We can't see what's ahead
And we cannot get free from what we've left behind

I'm reeling from these voices that keep screaming in my ears
All the words of shame and doubt, blame and regret
I can't see how You're leading me unless You've led me here
Where I'm lost enough to let myself be led
And so You've been here all along I guess
It's just Your ways and You are just plain hard to get

Thanks, Rich. Miss you.

Lawnmower Shuffle (classic mix)

Part of our "deal" in living in our house is the privilege of mowing the yard, which I did Sunday afternoon. I have many fond memories of lawnmowing from my youth, when mowing the yard on the farm was the equivalent of four solid hours of riding my Dad's John Deere riding mower, never without with my imitation Sony Walkman blaring the hits.

I always felt I did some of my best thinking on the lawnmower, but the best part of mowing (both then and especially now) is the instant progress one makes in doing it. The size of our lawn here in St. Louis doesn't demand a riding mower by any means, but it did take a good 45 minutes or so with a used push mower we got off Craig's List to do the job.

I've evolved from listening to music on cassettes, but not from the joy of listening to music while walking the weeds (er, grass). In alphabetical order by song title, and with the task of tending God's creation in mind, here's my official iPod Lawnmower Shuffle (classic mix) from yesterday:

• Beautiful Day - U2


• Blowin' In The Wind - Bob Dylan


• (The) Color Green - Rich Mullins


• I Am A Man Of Constant Sorrow - The Soggy Bottom Boys


• I Walk The Line - Johnny Cash


• MMMBop - Hanson


• Never Is Enough - Barenaked Ladies


• Our House - Madness


• Pink Houses - John Mellencamp


• Pray For Rain - PFR


• Roam - The B-52's


• Suburbia - Pet Shop Boys


• Summer Nights - Van Halen


• Summer Of '69 - Bryan Adams


• Sunny Day - Mary Cutrufello


• Walk Of Life - Dire Straits

Good times, good times.

1984 Never Sounded So Good

I could care less about the game (and the commercials have been lame so far), but Prince's Super Bowl halftime performance was un-stinking-believable. Was "Purple Rain" as a closer not totally redeeming of the bad weather in Miami? I don't mean to ooze, but oh my...

Ouch

Pardon the obvious narcissism, but this one hurts a bit.

Evidently, a copy of my 1995 album is for sale on eBay.

Only $9.99. Here's another for $29.98, which is more like it.

If enough - say 10 or so - comment sympathetically for the sake of my bruised ego at this commodification, I'll post some tracks you can enjoy/mock here. I can be bought in more ways than one...