Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.
2 I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."
3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.
4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.
7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.
8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.
9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;
12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.
13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.
14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.
16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."
Monday, July 25, 2005
Thursday, July 21, 2005
Tuesday, July 19, 2005
We Hate it When Our Friends Become Successful
While reading one of my friend's blogs today, I came across a comment regarding people who claim to not like this band or that because they are liked by many other people. Although I have had conversations in the recent past with this person regarding the popularity of bands and my corresponding distaste of their popularity, I don't necessarily think that comment was directed right at me. Rather, it was directed at many people who enjoy a particular musician and then reluctantly let go of them as their popularity rises. Even so, I'd like to respond for what it's worth...
I include myself in their ranks.
Why? Why do I profess attraction to a musician up until the point that everyone else sees the same thing? Why do I truly enjoy pre Joshua Tree U2 and then find their newer things less enjoyable? Why would I find myself excited to see Coldplay in a small no-name club in Charlotte right after Parachutes came out and then be disappointed when they come to the same town, but play in a huge amphitheatre?
Am I just a music snob who thinks that anything everyone else likes can't be good? No.
Do I have some "holier-than-thou" complex that I must support by falsely believing that I'm better than the masses because I refuse to acknowledge what is popular?
No.
Am I someone who has witnessed too many examples of corporate America spoiling something good? Someone who believes that power, fame, and money and the pursuit thereof have an enormous capability to corrupt even the most well-intentioned person; be it an artist, politician, business man, or religious leader?
absolutely.
It isn't that my reasons in liking a particular band have changed. I still like Coldplay because...well...they are Coldplay. But there is an important variable that has come into play in that case: I'm not longer getting just Coldplay themselves, I'm getting them plus millions of dollars of influence, millions of fans, an image thought up not necessarily by the members of Coldplay but by producers sitting in their high-rise offices thinking about how much money they can hope to make off their next album who then sit back and smile as they watch so much of the 13-30 sector of society fumble over themselves to buy the album, tickets to shows, t-shirts, stickers, and little worthless trinkets that have nothing to do with the music itself.
That is the poison in the water.
I might possibly be wrong, but I for one scoff at American Idol. I see it as a reflection of the depravity of this society and it promotes nothing but the selfish pursuit of fame and fortune in its viewers. So how does that affect my opinion of Kelly Clarkson? Sorry girl, you've got a great voice, but you've sold yourself out from the very beginning and everything about your image presented to me seems polished, produced, and unnatural.
No, I want something more genuine. Something pure, or at least as close to pure as I can get. But then again, I'm a New Order fan. Granted, I still like their older music much more than the newer things, but nonetheless I'm a fan...and they sold out after their popularity to such a large degree that they were hardly the same afterwards. So there is some measure of forgiveness to this. I'm not "hard-core" about it. Because music, like so many other art forms, is not something you can honestly be overbearing about. Art is so overtly subjective that for me to sit and say, "John Mayer sucks" and try to convince others of that would be ridiculous. Sure, I might have that opinion, but who am I to hold that opinion as if it were a cold, hard fact? There are as many different reasons people pick one band over another as there are bands out there. I may not like them for the same reason I don't like the color red: I simply don't like it. So what would make my opinion any better or worse than someone who thought Corporate Generated Band #67945 was the greatest set of musicians ever established?
One word to any musicians out there. You may have already had great success, or maybe you hope one day you will, but bear this in mind: when you become successful, you will give up part of yourself. You will make compromises, you will allow things to occur that otherwise you would have restricted. Don't believe me? Watch a couple of episodes of "Behind the Music." So when the opportunity comes your way, you will not only be making a decision about your future, but how much of yourself and what you originally set out to accomplish you are willing to compromise. There are few great artists who compromise themselves and still retain the qualities that made them great (Ray Charles), but the landscape is chock-full of the dead and dying who gave too much of themselves and sacrificed too much.
I include myself in their ranks.
Why? Why do I profess attraction to a musician up until the point that everyone else sees the same thing? Why do I truly enjoy pre Joshua Tree U2 and then find their newer things less enjoyable? Why would I find myself excited to see Coldplay in a small no-name club in Charlotte right after Parachutes came out and then be disappointed when they come to the same town, but play in a huge amphitheatre?
Am I just a music snob who thinks that anything everyone else likes can't be good? No.
Do I have some "holier-than-thou" complex that I must support by falsely believing that I'm better than the masses because I refuse to acknowledge what is popular?
No.
Am I someone who has witnessed too many examples of corporate America spoiling something good? Someone who believes that power, fame, and money and the pursuit thereof have an enormous capability to corrupt even the most well-intentioned person; be it an artist, politician, business man, or religious leader?
absolutely.
It isn't that my reasons in liking a particular band have changed. I still like Coldplay because...well...they are Coldplay. But there is an important variable that has come into play in that case: I'm not longer getting just Coldplay themselves, I'm getting them plus millions of dollars of influence, millions of fans, an image thought up not necessarily by the members of Coldplay but by producers sitting in their high-rise offices thinking about how much money they can hope to make off their next album who then sit back and smile as they watch so much of the 13-30 sector of society fumble over themselves to buy the album, tickets to shows, t-shirts, stickers, and little worthless trinkets that have nothing to do with the music itself.
That is the poison in the water.
I might possibly be wrong, but I for one scoff at American Idol. I see it as a reflection of the depravity of this society and it promotes nothing but the selfish pursuit of fame and fortune in its viewers. So how does that affect my opinion of Kelly Clarkson? Sorry girl, you've got a great voice, but you've sold yourself out from the very beginning and everything about your image presented to me seems polished, produced, and unnatural.
No, I want something more genuine. Something pure, or at least as close to pure as I can get. But then again, I'm a New Order fan. Granted, I still like their older music much more than the newer things, but nonetheless I'm a fan...and they sold out after their popularity to such a large degree that they were hardly the same afterwards. So there is some measure of forgiveness to this. I'm not "hard-core" about it. Because music, like so many other art forms, is not something you can honestly be overbearing about. Art is so overtly subjective that for me to sit and say, "John Mayer sucks" and try to convince others of that would be ridiculous. Sure, I might have that opinion, but who am I to hold that opinion as if it were a cold, hard fact? There are as many different reasons people pick one band over another as there are bands out there. I may not like them for the same reason I don't like the color red: I simply don't like it. So what would make my opinion any better or worse than someone who thought Corporate Generated Band #67945 was the greatest set of musicians ever established?
One word to any musicians out there. You may have already had great success, or maybe you hope one day you will, but bear this in mind: when you become successful, you will give up part of yourself. You will make compromises, you will allow things to occur that otherwise you would have restricted. Don't believe me? Watch a couple of episodes of "Behind the Music." So when the opportunity comes your way, you will not only be making a decision about your future, but how much of yourself and what you originally set out to accomplish you are willing to compromise. There are few great artists who compromise themselves and still retain the qualities that made them great (Ray Charles), but the landscape is chock-full of the dead and dying who gave too much of themselves and sacrificed too much.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Best 2 Minutes You'll Hear
Artist: Red House Painters
Album: Red House Painters 1
Song: Brown Eyes
Tell me and take your time
Set free this soul of mine
Freeze frame this sedate moment
Lie me in your quiet ground
I understand your
Tired eyes for these
Tired homes and tired trees
I see the pain in those
Brown eyes
Fires burn in autumn skies
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
Shameless Promotion
Just added a listing of some the bands that have hung around in my CD players and computers for sometime now. Yes, now I'm opening myself up to all sorts of criticisms, etc. Say what you will Shua and Lee! This is me!
Speaking of which...I got tickets to see Sun Kil Moon (well actually, just Mark Kozelek) at the Grey Eagle in Asheville next week. Can't wait.
Also, I thought I'd mention a word about God's sense of humor. Long story short, I used to work in a music store when I lived in Charleston. Since we were allowed to borrow CD's to take home, I amassed quite a collection of MP3's from all sorts of random, no-name bands that I was so proud of. Of course, I didn't pay for any of this and there I was, a happy thief...until the harddrive that stored all those songs (about 15GBs worth) CRASHED...and I had never backed them up. So, it will now cost me the rough equivalent of actually buying all those CD's to have the information recovered off the drive...and I still won't have anything to show for except the songs themselves. No cool liner notes, no interesting graphics to look at...just the songs. How do you spell irony again?
Speaking of which...I got tickets to see Sun Kil Moon (well actually, just Mark Kozelek) at the Grey Eagle in Asheville next week. Can't wait.
Also, I thought I'd mention a word about God's sense of humor. Long story short, I used to work in a music store when I lived in Charleston. Since we were allowed to borrow CD's to take home, I amassed quite a collection of MP3's from all sorts of random, no-name bands that I was so proud of. Of course, I didn't pay for any of this and there I was, a happy thief...until the harddrive that stored all those songs (about 15GBs worth) CRASHED...and I had never backed them up. So, it will now cost me the rough equivalent of actually buying all those CD's to have the information recovered off the drive...and I still won't have anything to show for except the songs themselves. No cool liner notes, no interesting graphics to look at...just the songs. How do you spell irony again?
On Another Note:
I suppose people have lots of different reasons for posting to their own blogs; passing on information, keeping up with friends, advertising products, etc. I think I just post to this so I don't forget things...
Got a blog? Why?
Got a blog? Why?
And Another
Artist: Death Cab for Cutie
Album: Transatlanticism
Song: A Lack of Color
And when I see you, I really see you upside down
But my brain knows better, it picks you up and turns you around
Turns you around, turns you around
If you feel discouraged when there's a lack of color here
Please don't worry lover, it's really bursting at the seams
from absorbing everything the spectrum's A to Z.
(ahh... ahhh...)
This is fact not fiction for the first time in years
All the girls in every girlie magazine can't make me feel any less alone,
I'm reaching for the phone to call at 7:03 and on your machine,
I slur a plea for you to come home.
But I know it's too late, and I should have given you a reason to stay
Given you a reason to stay; given you a reason to stay;
given you a reason to stay
This is fact not fiction for the first time in years
Monday, July 11, 2005
Things I've Learned (In No Particular Order):
1. God is in control of everything
2. I am in control of nothing
3. God’s forgiveness can never be understood by man, but it is real.
4. I have loved unselfishly
5. I have been loved unselfishly
6. I don’t drink alcohol.
7. I tell the truth.
8. Going to bars and staying sober is like going to baseball games sober…..why go? It’s incredibly boring!
9. My passions were never lost, only misdirected…
10. Sometimes God calls us to do an incredibly difficult thing….wait
11. I don’t like waiting!
12. I know what it means to “pray in the gap”
13. There is real spiritual warfare going on out there.
14. I have a lot of confidence…when I know I’m in God’s will.
15. People have this nasty thing called “free will” that can really cause problems if not kept in check.
16. You can’t make someone do the right thing.
17. Relationships require two people to participate in the same game. If one of them quits, you can’t make them play even if it is the right thing.
18. When I really love someone, I fight tenaciously for it.
19. God can do some incredible things with people when they allow Him to do so.
20. God can really change people for the better.
21. I can actually have an effect on people around me when I set the right example.
22. Forgiveness doesn’t always come easy, but it makes life easier to both give and receive it.
23. God is a God of the impossible, the difficult, the unseen, and the desperate
24. God can give us real courage, real strength, real peace, and real joy…to a level unattainable on our own.
25. The Bible is actually interesting.
26. God really speaks to us in lots of different ways when we open our ears to it.
27. God changes people, situations, lives, hopes, dreams, fears, desires, tears, passions, etc, etc, etc.
28. I feel best about myself when I’m helping other people.
29. I actually like going to the gym.
30. God is always there, every time I call out for Him…He never leaves.
2. I am in control of nothing
3. God’s forgiveness can never be understood by man, but it is real.
4. I have loved unselfishly
5. I have been loved unselfishly
6. I don’t drink alcohol.
7. I tell the truth.
8. Going to bars and staying sober is like going to baseball games sober…..why go? It’s incredibly boring!
9. My passions were never lost, only misdirected…
10. Sometimes God calls us to do an incredibly difficult thing….wait
11. I don’t like waiting!
12. I know what it means to “pray in the gap”
13. There is real spiritual warfare going on out there.
14. I have a lot of confidence…when I know I’m in God’s will.
15. People have this nasty thing called “free will” that can really cause problems if not kept in check.
16. You can’t make someone do the right thing.
17. Relationships require two people to participate in the same game. If one of them quits, you can’t make them play even if it is the right thing.
18. When I really love someone, I fight tenaciously for it.
19. God can do some incredible things with people when they allow Him to do so.
20. God can really change people for the better.
21. I can actually have an effect on people around me when I set the right example.
22. Forgiveness doesn’t always come easy, but it makes life easier to both give and receive it.
23. God is a God of the impossible, the difficult, the unseen, and the desperate
24. God can give us real courage, real strength, real peace, and real joy…to a level unattainable on our own.
25. The Bible is actually interesting.
26. God really speaks to us in lots of different ways when we open our ears to it.
27. God changes people, situations, lives, hopes, dreams, fears, desires, tears, passions, etc, etc, etc.
28. I feel best about myself when I’m helping other people.
29. I actually like going to the gym.
30. God is always there, every time I call out for Him…He never leaves.
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