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This Is For All The Lonely People
Yeah, I'm listening to "that cover" on the last Jars studio album. (No, not the hymns album, the other last album.) I never really liked the song, but I guess it fits pretty well with the rest of the Jars album, which is stellar.
Yesterday I went shopping despite the fact that I'm spending most of tomorrow with my family shopping also. Well, I wouldn't have gotten 10% off at Kohl's if I went pants shopping tomorrow, so I went yesterday while the coupon was still good. It was generally pretty busy out there, and I was surprised to see they've completely taken down the old Mervyn's section of Rosedale and are putting in a huge expansion which I'm told is to be mostly movie theater. (Sure, why not, the whole world needs more cinemas. Oh wait, no, we just need good movies.)
I have a conundrum for ya. How does one spend $7.49 in cash at Best Buy and get four CDs and three DVDs? And how does spending $7.49 in cash an hour later just give me a burrito and pop at Chipotle? Well, the simple answer is that at Best Buy I used a gift card from work. Yep, thanks to end-of-year bonuses and a great job, I got to go on the shopping spree and get some of those presents I wish I would have gotten for Christmas but didn't.
Plus, I got to explore some new music. Besides picking up a catalog U2 album and the latest EP from Relient K, I purchased discs from Matisyahu, the Hasidic reggae sensation, and Holly Williams, daughter of Hank Williams, Jr. Both are good albums and I've heard a couple songs from each, but it was fun to have a bit of extra money to just splurge on some new music. I'm sure they're both gonna be great.
I'm Not Backin' Down
delirious? is my all-time favorite band. For years, they've been breaking ground as a Christian band with a reach into the non-Christian world. It's cool and I still totally respect them even though their last couple albums haven't been as stellar. (Well, that may be because I haven't seen a live show from them in almost four years.)
One man that made it happen was their manager, Tony Potato. It was recently announced that Potato was leaving, and now we know why. In the official unofficial delirious? site's interview with Tony, it is revealed that he's starting a label at EMI for Christian bands that are to be marketed to the mainstream. Apparently they're reusing Charlie Peacock's earlier label name, Re:Think, probably because they've been releasing Switchfoot's albums under that moniker for years.
If anyone can do it, it probably is Tony. So I hope he can make it happen. Maybe we'll have to get a good interview with them at GMA.
My Ribs Are Bruised And It's Just Round Two
The last couple days I've seen a couple of movies. The first was OK, but the second was great.
So instead of spending a late work night sitting through King Kong, we went to Fun With Dick And Jane. It was pretty fun, but definitely not great. Jim Carrey is good and it was fun to see him, but it wasn't a great Jim Carrey movie. There are a lot of jokes about corporate America that started to get old by the end. Alec Baldwin plays a CEO who basically destroys a company for his own gain. He also imitates and makes jabs at Dubyah and that was funny.
Cinderella Man was a great movie. Of course, Russell Crowe was great. The boxing scenes were impressive. It wasn't an easy movie to watch because the Depression was hard. Give it a watch if you get a chance. I liked it a lot better than Ron Howard's last film, A Beautiiful Mind. This one has real heart.
A Large Construction Sign
So just now I upgraded to the latest version of WordPress (version 2.0). So far, it's looking like a great improvement even though I haven't dug into it very far.
The downside was that I just noticed that my custom theme had a couple incompatibilities. So, I just set it back to the default theme. Hopefully, it means I'll come up with an even cooler theme for my blog. Maybe after Christmas it'll really start looking good (and original)!
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!