Reasons To Love Twitter, #158

Once again, I have to show love to Twitter for hooking me up with more free stuff.

This time I thank Shane & Shane for providing me with a copy of their new album as a reward for playing a “Guess What’s This Picture Is” game. Can’t beat that.

If you’re following anyone that’s giving away guitars or other music gear, do let me know

NaNoWriMo

Anyone out here participating in the National Novel Writing Month, aka NaNoWriMo? Sounds intriguing. A fun idea to set and meet a difficult but achievable goal.

I’m a day behind but I may try and get in on the action. Join me?

(Follow the NaNoWriMo journey of other Twitter users here with Twitscoop)

Let’s Play Ball

As you may already be aware (for those who care, anyway), the NBA is back. I don’t know how the Rockets will fare this season because of some serious lineup changes but I will continue to show love when appropriate because, well, I am a lousy, fair-weather fan.

In celebration of the return of basketball, here’s a clip of the Miami Heat’s Dwyane Wade scoring past all of the Bulls’ defense.

HT: This guy

“Hey, Mr. DJ, Put A Record On”

Here’s an interesting article that claims people who illegally download music end up buying more music than those who are… ahem… not as pirate-like.

HT: BoingBoing

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 by 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

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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 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 figured this, somehow
All 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 can not get free of 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

———-

-Rich Mullins

Friday Glory

Today has been a long day of lawn-care, work, and errand-running. Long day. However, a few things made it all bearable and maybe even awesome.

-It’s Friday. Let’s face it, that just makes everything better, doesn’t it?

-The weather down here in Houston has been nothing short of stunning today. It’s been hot all week (and not just hot for October) but today turned things around. Even though I was busy driving around, I’m glad I got to be outside for a lot of this Friday.

-Due to the lack of a CD player, aux. input or tape deck in the ol’ work vehicle, I’m forced to listen to the radio. Top 40 is usually the way I go but with those stations tied up with commercials I naturally tuned in to my 93Q Country. And in the span of about an hour I managed to hear some clever, some corny, and some classic country songs.

Oh, and I also scored two tickets to Taylor Swift’s show in May 2010.

That’s that Friday glory, folks.

Happily Ever After

Last month I was honored and privileged to be a part of Tanner and Anne Herriot’s wedding. We arrived the Wednesday before the wedding ceremony that Saturday and I tried to capture as much as I could of the adventure.

I’m slow with video work, hence this video being here a month and a half after the fact. Yep. Oh well.

Enjoy. And much love to Tanner and Anne. Happiness.

You Lie!

I was told that Thursday would bring a cold front to us sweaty folk of Houston.

That is not a cold front. That is June.

I’m Like A Kid In Some Kind Of A Store

If there’s one thing we can be certain about in life it’s that there’s nothing we can be certain about in life. There can be good or bad days. Sometimes the good days need a reward. Almost always, the bad days need a pick-me-up. Enter one of God’s many gifts to mankind: candy.

But you don’t always want to make an emergency trip to the store to satisfy that needed hit. You’re tired! You’ve earned a break! Well, here’s a little tip I picked along the way (to the doctor, apparently).

Invest in a candy stash. Easy enough, right? It truly is. On your next grocery run, pick out some of your favorite candy selections and do your best not to eat it on the drive home. Next, and this is important, you’ll want to hide this candy. If you’re anything like me, any candy in sight will be promptly inhaled. Hidden candy, however, has a much higher chance of survival, hopefully to be saved for those moments where you truly need that sugar fix.

Here’s my setup. This looks like an ordinary bookshelf, does it not? Kinda dull…

ordinary shelf

But that’s before we learn that behind these books lies a veritable treasure trove of awesomeness.

surprise! happiness!

Sweet .

Shortcuts

I’m discovering that for many things that I do (or, really, attempt to do) there is a much quicker and more efficient way to accomplish the task.

I like to dabble in different forms of media expressions; I’m most definitely not proficient in any but I enjoy it anyway. I can often see a finished product in my head by my lack of technical knowledge and basic know-how definitely slow me down from arriving at my destination. I know there are tips and tricks out there (and thank you to the Interwebs for constantly supplying me with so much) but sometimes I don’t absorb them quickly enough.

However, I can’t make the excuse of not even trying or not going any distance because I don’t know the shortcuts. Better to take the long way than to get nowhere at all.

It’s 4:12 AM and I’m now going to bed. A little project that I was working on (that someone else could’ve finished in minutes) took me forever but I’m sorta happy I’ve (eventually) arrived at a semi-decent finished product. Go Team.

I Can Smell The Excitement In The Air

There’s enough to bum me out about the world and life in general but I’ve gotta constantly focus my sights on the abundance of gloriously wonderful things that surround me. Here’s to that:

-We got up to 90˚ this week down here in Houston. Remember it’s October. That’s not the good part. The good part is that it dipped into the 60s yesterday. I have little faith that the weather will stay this way for long but I’m loving every bit of it while it’s around.

-I can barely contain my excitement about seeing The Swell Season in concert here pretty soon. I love what they do. I love their music. I do. You might, too. Take a listen to some of their new tunes here.

-I’m terrible about putting away my clean laundry. But I don’t care at the moment. That’s good.

-Christmas is creeping closer. It’s weirding me out a little that the year is nearly over but I’m thinking it’s gonna end out brilliantly and 2010’s gonna be one to remember.

-Our church worship team has come to the conclusion that we’re bored silly with the way we play most of our songs. So, amidst other musical attempts that shall remain undisclosed at this time, we’re looking to give our songs a new kick in the face so they can speak to everyone (ourselves included) in a fresh way, maybe in ways they hadn’t before.

-This has been very unsubstantial. I think I just wanted to talk about the weather and The Swell Season. But that’s enough, don’t you agree?

Reasons To Love Twitter, #157

Say what you will about social media and Twitter in particular but it just scored me a $20 giftcard to Jason’s Deli.

Thanks to Madison over at Jason’s Deli for Tuesday Trivia and hooking me up with a real treat something I can really sink my teeth into food.

Peace Out

So President Obama is the recipient of this year’s Nobel Peace Prize and the predominant response seems to be, “… really?”. Yeah, everyone seems surprised by the outcome, even the President himself.

What I don’t get is how some people seem upset about it – your president gets this award and you’re not happy? Whatever, that’s fine, but at the very least let’s be upset with Oslo for giving him the award rather than with the president, eh?

However, I did have a good chuckle at Jaron Nix’s tweets:

Sounds For My Soul (Present Favorites), Pt. VI

Alrighty, it’s been a little while since I’ve shared some music but I have a real winner here to make up for it. She’s not unknown but I do reckon she should be immensely more popular.

Alison Sudol is A Fine Frenzy, an artist with a great voice, style and songs. I was introduced to her brand of awesomeness sometime last year by the great Kitt Bender when he sent a link of A Fine Frenzy performing her song “You Picked Me.” I was smitten. After keep the video on repeat for the better part of a week I bought her debut album on Amazon which is full of brilliance. I mean, it was good from top to bottom. I love those kinda albums (and those are not easy to find).

She just released her second album a few weeks ago, Bomb In A Birdcage, and I must say that she absolutely does NOT suffer from the sophomore slump. It’s a different album in that some of the songs are a bit more upbeat, pop-y but the fact that it is so good is undeniable. My iTunes play count tells me that I’ve listened to the album ten times through, and that’s not including the numerous spins it’s taken on my iPod. I run through quite a bit of music on my iTunes so ten listens since early September is saying something about how I feel about her music…

Since it’s beautiful outside and it’s Friday I thought I’d share a happy track from A Fine Frenzy’s latest album. This song is called “Blow Away.” Then go buy the album (and whether you buy it from Amazon or iTunes, go to Amazon to get the exclusive track – it’s delicious).

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Previous entries of SFMS:

Pt. I
Pt. II
Pt. III
Pt. IV
Pt. V

Time Check

Have you ever found yourself carelessly glancing at a clock or your watch only to notice that you catch the same time whenever you do?

I don’t know what it is but whenever I throw a quick glimpse at the nearest clock I tend to see 12:34 displayed. Of course, that’s not the only time I ever see but this happens so consistently that it feels a little more than odd.

I’m not intentionally waiting and looking for 12:34 – it’s just there letting me know it’s there.

This can’t be happening only to me.

Can it?

Happy Birthday

That’s Just D(r)umb.

Sorry for the many Craigslist posts but this is just too stupid. I’m hoping this is fake but, if not, could someone PLEASE buy this drumb set and send this kid to college quickly?!

Ellipse

She’s not new but she certainly has her place on the list of under-recognized, innovative musicians today. Imogen Heap is releasing her latest project, Ellipse, tomorrow, August 25. Buy it here.

Sometimes, there’s an artist that fills in the gaps of your musical preferences perfectly. You can enjoy all sorts of diverse styles but sometimes there’s a song or musician that can sum up the reasons you love all that music in one fell swoop.

I’m not an Imogen super-fan by any means but I do know she’s one of the artists I turn to when I need a creative kick in the butt (or is it a kick in my creative butt?). I’m on my repeated listen of Ellipse and I can say that I really dig it. I enjoyed her last album, Speak For Yourself, though I found myself skipping a couple of tracks at times (sorry). So far, no skips on this record. Always a good sign.

If you’re not familiar with Imogen’s work, here’s a brief sample. First up is the first single, “First Train Home,” from her upcoming album.

And to really prove how clever she can be, here’s a live performance of her song “Just For Now” from her album Speak For Yourself. I’ve watched this countless times and it never fails to remind me that I’m a lame musician who desperately needs to practice. Gold.

Closure

Just for the sake of closure, here’s the second and final part of my weekend at the Assemblies of God conference.

Go to bed.

It’s Totally Okay – One Time I Nearly Tasered Bruce Springsteen During A Riot

How does it feel? To be on your own? A complete unknown? Bob Dylan might know.

A police officer questioning Bob Dylan recognized his name but wasn’t sure it was him.

The rock legend was stopped in July by police in Long Branch, New Jersey, who were responding to a call about a suspicious person roaming the neighborhood, police said.

According to Long Branch Police Department Sgt. Michael Ahart, Dylan had been peering into a window of a house that was for sale, which prompted a neighbor to call the police on July 23.

One of two responding officers, Officer Kristie Buble, 24, approached Dylan and asked him for his name.

“She recognized the name, she just really didn’t believe it was Bob Dylan,” Ahart told CNN. “He was soaking wet because it was raining and he was wearing a hood.”

So Buble asked the musician for identification, but he had none.

Buble and her partner, Officer Derrick Meyers, 24, then asked Dylan, 68, to accompany them to where his tour buses were parked. Once they arrived, Dylan showed them identification.

“Dylan was really cool about the whole incident,” Ahart said. He said he asked the singer why he had been walking in the rain and was told, “I just felt like going for a walk.”

Dylan, who is on a national tour with musicians Willie Nelson and John Mellencamp, was in Long Branch on the Jersey shore prior to his performance at a baseball stadium in nearby Lakewood.

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CNN

Hang On A Sec…

Okay, I feel the need to balance out the hormones on this here blog after that last post. As much as I still stand by what I said, let me be clear in expressing that I wish to see this movie as well:

Ahh, much better.

Travels Through Time

I read The Time Traveler’s Wife a couple of years ago based on a recommendation I read on an artist’s fan discussion board. It was one of dozens of books recommended but the plot seemed intriguing enough for me to hunt it down in the library.

I started reading it and I couldn’t put it down. I really enjoyed it. It could’ve done with less rated-R scenes but it was good, nonetheless.

Then I heard there was a movie being made. That didn’t excite me. Like most movies that were inspired from books, I was afraid that the lovely images of my imagination would be butchered by some talentless hack looking to make a buck.

I just recently saw the trailer for the upcoming film.

I realize it’s being portrayed as a chick-flick (and maybe the book was written that way and I never realized it) but I’m now kinda excited about this movie.

Shut up. You know you wanna see it, too.

The Highlights

I’m not sure what happened but the past couple of months have been very busy/tiring in my world. I don’t even think there was a lot to be done; it may have been that it all happened at the same time so it felt slightly overwhelming. But the highlights:

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- I had the opportunity to go to the Assemblies of God India Fellowship of North America (AGIFNA) Conference at the end of July. I’m not a member of an AG church nor have I ever been. Yet, I still had a surprisingly great time that weekend (surprising because I usually detest church conferences/conventions).

A large group of Indians (from the three local AG churches) and I boarded a bus and drove 15 hours through the night and day to the annual conference, this year held in Atlanta.

I tried to capture some of the happenings so here is part one of my being “AG For A Weekend.” My apologies to Tanner Herriott for blatantly stealing ideas from his work but doing so in a very poor manner. But I figure it’s okay because he’s already light years ahead of me and there he shall stay.

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- Speaking of Tanner, he’s getting married. Pretty dang exciting. I think we should all crash his reception in OKC. And bring gifts. Or cookies.

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- Well, after the AG conference, our church had a rather impromptu VBS week. While it felt stressful prepping for it on such short notice, the actual event was pretty fun-filled and relaxed. I think the kids enjoyed it well enough as we tried our hardest to avoid a week of sermons and lectures.

There’s video of that as well but I haven’t had a chance to even look at the footage yet.

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- There’s supposed to be a meteor shower happening right now. I intend to go outside and keep an eye out for Kal-El’s spaceship. Smallville, anyone? Sigh.

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- My cousin got married this past weekend. That was fun. Thrilled for them. A few months ago, he asked me to play some live music at his reception. I tried hard to get out of it but finally gave in because that’s what family does, right?

As the wedding date drew closer, the panic began to sink in. My ideas for a band had fallen through earlier so I luckily found a pianist to accompany me in the last couple of weeks.

We rehearsed once on the Thursday before the wedding and come Saturday we were on stage, not really sure what we had gotten ourselves into. However, everything went smoothly, we got away with playing FAR fewer songs than we had anticipated which was such a relief. In desperation, I bought jazz and latin fake books from Amazon just so we’d have something to fall back on. Even though we only got through a couple of songs from the jazz book, they really did make me feel more secure in selling myself as a “competent musician.”

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- I’ve noticed a new approach I’ve taken to my guitar-playing these days.

I think I’m decent. I mean, I think I can hold up my end in a band setting for a little while. That’s about it, though. I think this because I have heard and played with such stellar musicians and I am all too aware that I am not that good yet. I do strive to be better. I do not intend to stay at this skill level for long. So with any gig I play now, my goal is just to trick people into thinking I’m more capable than I really am, just long enough for me to go and practice and actually become that capable. That’s not terrible, right?

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- Okay, I’m gonna take a meteor break and then head to bed. Shalom, all.

Lame. And Fail.

This Is Painful. And Clever.

It seems that a musician from Nova Scotia is getting back at United Airlines after his Taylor acoustic guitar was seriously damaged when he checked it in on a flight. His payback? A song detailing how United screwed up.

While I enjoyed the song and video, I think that if my guitar was damaged on a flight I’d cry for a week straight.

(Thanks, Chron.com)