Babelfish is fantastic

From English: "amazing grace how sweet the sound"

to Italian: "tolleranza stupefacente quanto dolce il suono"

then on to French: "tolérance de stupéfiant combien doux le son"

followed by German: "Suchtstofftoleranz, wieviel zart der Ton"

then back into English: "Craze material tolerance, how much tenderly the clay"

What a loss...

Larry Norman
4/8/1947 - 2/24/2008

Was there a more ever a more influential Christian rock musician, historically speaking?

Just like Betamax and VHS...

...only this time Sony (who created Betamax) is on the winning side. Blu-ray will soon be the only option, as Toshiba is apparently about to give up on their HD-DVDs. Already Netflix, WalMart and BestBuy no longer offer (or are phasing out) HD-DVD products.

I have yet to purchase either, so I really don't care.

NEW KAIZERS ALBUM!

Out Feb. 18th!!! Stream the whole album on their MySpace Pretty Exciting, sounds quite different, yet again. These guys are easily in my top three bands of all time. There's just something about their sound that really appeals to me. Love the noise, love Ottesen's voice, love all the weird instruments and arrangements. Just wish they would get over here and tour; in particularly going through the South East. I still have not seen them live. They are apparently amazing.

Finally...

I'm almost embarrassed to admit it, but I only today got around to listening to "Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace". I really, really like it. There's something about Grohl's different ways of singing that really appeals to me. I also like how varied the songs are.

I'm realizing more and more how out of touch I am becoming when it comes to the "current music scene" or whatever you want to call it. I used to be pretty up to date and have a fairly extensive knowledge of what was going on, but now i more or less totally rely on the scraps that fall from Troy and my two brothers-in-law's tables... I don't know what it is... maybe it's age, or having a family, or being so busy with school and work combined with little to no money for non-essentials like CDs etc... it's probably all of these factors, plus several others...

I think I use the "triple period" (...) more than anybody else i know, it's a bad habit and i'm trying to stop, but for some reason i just can't seem to give it up

With the exeption of water

I don't think there is a single beverage which is as tasty and versatile as coffee. It can be prepared a thousand different ways; hot, cold, black, with milk, weird coffee shop frappa-jappa-mappa's, etc. But coffee doesn't stop there; it's great in ice-cream, cakes, chocolate, candy, even as a marinade(!) It increases alertness and stimulates the mind. It has tons of anti-oxidants, so it'll even keep you beautiful.

I'm just now realizing how much this post smacks of the desperation to "blog about something, anything". I enjoy posting but so rarely have anything of importance that i actually want to communicate.

Oh, btw, Leah and I found a website last night that shows you how to make a compost bin out of old shipping pallets. Pretty cool idea, looks really ugly though... might give it a try if we can get hold of some free pallets.

I've had this weird craving for almonds all day.

procrastination

I've noticed that i both write more often and check other people's blogs, spaces and faces when school is in...

Rom 5:1-14

"1Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, 2through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. 3Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; 4perseverance, character; and character, hope. 5And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.

6You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. 7Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. 8But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

9Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! 10For if, when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life! 11Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.

12Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned— 13for before the law was given, sin was in the world. But sin is not taken into account when there is no law. 14Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come."

Is this mind blowing or what!?!?!

Rediscovering old friends

Few things please me more then when I rediscover an old favorite album. I don't know how many times I listened to "Upon This Rock" by Larry Norman when I was a middle-schooler, I even saw him live when I was in high school. How wonderful it was to put it on my iPod yesterday, and listen to it over and over.

This happens to me every once in a while (sadly, all too rarely, though). I think I enjoy it even more than when I first encountered it. It is like being reunited with an old friend. It is not just the actual music, but also all the memories, people and places which are associated with the songs. A couple of examples; "Undone/The Sweater Song" will always remind me of Kjell's parents' basement, and "Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness" brings me back to my 16th birthday (the truly astute reader will know that this is impossible as the album came out 8 days after my birthday; but take one guess as to what I spent my birthday money on).

Music is so much more than just a melody and lyrics; it's memories, hopes, dreams, old and new friends, places, and feelings; all gloriously mixed together into (sometimes) life changing experiences which you can take with you through life. I think this makes us better people; or at least more conscious of how joy, sadness, fellowship and loneliness all play a part in who we are becoming.

yup, we got a walker...