Blog
Whenever Your Light Shines
Christian artist (and now producer) Max Hsu just found out that he's in the Top 25 of Billboard's Top 25 Hot Christian Producers. Yeah, Billboard has a list for everything if it has to do with music.
Here's my take on it:
"Out of the 20 producers that work in Christian music, Max Hsu got #18. In order to make the list a Top 25, they allowed 'special' artists like Peter Furler, Steven Curtis Chapman, and Chuck Dennie to pretend to be producers."
No offense to Max, of course. He's the brains behind the coolest chick-fronted rock band around! And I read his blog, of course!
Have Your Paste And Eat It Too
According to an e-mail from PasteStore.com, the upcoming issue of my favorite magazine has a killer sampler. Not only does Paste Issue 20 have a Sufjan Stevens track, but the gem is a track from the forthcoming full-length from Mute Math. Sure, all of us who are avid Mute Math fans have been watching the "Chaos" video for months (if not years), but it'll be great to finally have the studio version on my iPod.
The only downer is that my current favorite band, The Elms, are not on the sampler. They better be on the April/May issue with a killer rock song.
It's A High Speed Car Chase
If you're into science at all, you gotta check out this link. This site is devoted to Insultingly Stupid Movie Physics. Yes, movies are never true to science (just like they're never true to the Catholic Church). And this site points them out. My favorite parts is the "Movie Reviews" section. Check out the stupidest movie, The Core, or my least-favorite movie besides M:I2, The Italian Job. It's all a good laugh.
Train To The Airport
I hope last year's rather weak winter weather doesn't hinder our new Light Rail system. For those who don't know, about a year ago Minneapolis opened a light rail line. I ride it every day home from work (and sometimes to work).
Today and yesterday we've had a decent amount of snow, and it seems to have caught MetroTransit off guard. You see, going home usually goes pretty smooth because the trains run every 7 minutes during rush hour. But with all the snow, the schedule seems very sporadic.
I left at 5:10 and therefore just missed the 5:12 train. But the next train came at 5:26! Not cool. Plus, while waiting for the train, 3 or 4 trains went by on the southbound track! It was very annoying.
Of course, it would probably help if the government actually supported our publil transit instead of pretending it's nonexistent.
It's Less Than A Smash Hit
Sure, you thought Narnia opened well? Hardly.
Like this Hollywood insider says, people are hyping today's release, King Kong, just to distract people from the real attraction, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. If Kong is anything, it's three hours of stinkin' eye candy without any redeeming factors. Sure, that's what Lord of the Rings had, but Peter Jackson basically lost all of my respect with those movies anyways.
Sure, Narnia wasn't the best movie ever. But, then again, it's not the best Narnia book ever, it's just the original. I can tell you that I loved Narnia a lot, and it was definitely better than any of the Lord of the Rings movies. I think, too, that they can only get better. Do you want to watch a movie where three children save a magical world? Or do you want to see a big monkey fall in love with a girl? I know which one I'm looking forward to. Only one of them ever sounded cool to me. Ever since I heard Kong was being made, all I could say is, "What are they smoking?"
Might Be Rockin' The NYC
OK, so I'm not going to be in New York anytime soon.
But, hopefully you'll hear from me on the road more often. You see, this
is my first post via e-mail from my cell. And I hope to be blogging while
away from my computer more often.
So here's to keeping y'all more informed!
Rejoice! Rejoice! Emmanuel Shall Come Again
Today I'm playing some of my favrite Christmas tunes. Of course, they're off one of my favorite albums, Your King Has Come. It's all the best independent folk artists in a beautiful project. Apparently you can only get it from the official site, but it's worth it.
Today at work I took on a different role: parts assembler. Last night we ordered some nice furniture from the neighboring IKEA and since I had nothing else to do at work today, I was tasked to put it together.
I have to say that I'm not very experienced in this type of work, but I can do it. It's amazing how easy to read IKEA's instructions are, despite being all pictures and having no languages on them. Oh yeah, and their furniture is very easy to assemble. I put together an end table and a coffee table to go right next to our couches. It's great.
Last time I went to IKEA I picked up some Swedish chocolate at the checkout. Darn good stuff.
Everybody! Everybody!
Alright, since it's nearing Christmas, I've been thinking about what to get my siblings. This year has been the hardest one yet, so I'm taking ideas.
But, of course, the process of looking for presents brings me to stuff I want. It's hard to separate the two. So, instead of giving you my "Bottom 10 Things On My Amazon.com Wishlist", I'm going to give you the wishlist of things you cannot find on Amazon.com.
Of course, the best place for funny stuff on the 'Net is HomestarRunner.com. Sure, I'd love a Strong Bad T-shirt or an oppertunity to Kick The Cheat, but the creme de la creme are the strongbad_email.exe DVDs. I mean, since mom and dad only have dial-up, that's the only sane way to show them the world of Coach Z and the KoT - on the TV. Plus, there's tons of bonus features. Heck, right now they even have a combo deal.
Another important thing is my collection of Phil Keaggy CDs. Not only are there bundles of CDs I would really love to add to my collection, this Christmas season there's some only '70s re-releases that I'd love to have. Way back in the day, Phil was the leader of the band Glass Harp, and their albums are remastered and on CD for a limited time only. I've priced them on eBay for months, and those CDs usually go for $30-$50 each when they're not in print.
Alright, enough shameless promotion of myself and my wishes. Oh wait, what else is a blog for?
This Is My Theme From Summer
So what am I thankful for this Thanksgiving?
I'm thankful that I got to hang out in pools and waterslides like it was the middle of the summer! (In reality, it was a high of 20 degrees outside, and I'm talking Yankee temps, not real temps.) My family took a two-night trip to The Wisconsin Dells, a touristy spot that makes it's bread 'n' butter on summer waterparks. At first I thought we were just gonne be stuck in a hotel for a couple days doin' nothin', but when I got there I found it wasn't any old hotel. The Great Wolf Lodge doesn't just have 500 rooms and look Log Cabin-style, it's got some great waterworks, and almost all of it is indoors!
We went down at least six different waterslides at least 50 times in those couple days, plus spent a lot of time in the "lazy river" and even more in the hot tub (the one that's for adults only, of course). One of the funnest attractions is a playground area, on top of which there is a 1,000-gallon bucket that dumps the water all over the room every five minutes. Their biggest ride is the tornado ride, where a four-person inner tube enters a crazy ride of water, swirling funnels, and screaming. And remember to watch the first drop! I surely wouldn't mind going back sometime next year, when they'll have a whole new section of their indoor waterpark with a wave pool and at least four more nice waterslides.
What else besides keeping the "Theme From Summer" going? Well, it was great to hang out with my family, especially since I hadn't seen half of them in the last three months. It was tons of fun, even though my parent's house just makes me sick.
Oh yeah, and I'm thankful for beer too.
The Things You Said Seem To Find Their Way Back Into My Head
Life. It's amazing, but it's tough.
This afternoon some very important people in my life hit me over the head with a two-by-four. It's a shame they had to do it, but all too often I need a kick in the ass to get me moving. Thanks, Lord, for letting them do it in a very kind and generous way.
Please keep me in your prayers. I'm mostly over the easy part of realizing that they were 100% correct in what they said, but the hard part is following through. It will be a great excersize, though, in perseverance and endurance, because I realize I've hardly ever done something with my whole heart and mind before. But I've got to, so I will ...with your prayers and God's grace.
"...And I regret my ways
You never left
Remind me once again so I won't forget
You're never far away."