Happy Birthday

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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?!

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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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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