New Taking Back Sunday

I'm not sure how I completely feel about the newest TBS album, but I hope to figure it out soon, as it has been playing on my iphone like crazy. I believe it to be really promising though. Faster paced. Only thing so far is that it is over too soon.

One great thing though is the album art (seen below). I'm a huge fan. As a photographer, I like an image like this taking the whole cover. It even looks like good usage of HDR. Simply put, visually, I can't think of an album cover I've liked this much in a while.

-- Post From My iPhone

The New Divide

OK, now I can't say my musical tastes are super refined or anything of that sort. I mean, I listen to what people would call screamo, emo, pop-punk, hip-hop, etc. I don't listen to a ton of the 'classy' singer/songwriter stuff or beautiful classical music. Not that I wouldn't listen to it, but rather it just isn't what I gravitate to initially. But even with my questionable tastes....

c'mon Linkin Park! Stop trying to be a metal version of Nickelback. Your sound is so trite now. Ever since Minutes to Midnight, you have sacrificed a major part of your band. Heck, after the Fort Minor song "Get Me Gone" where Mike Shinoda lauds Linkin Park's usage of his rap stylings, it was quite absent (although not completely gone) from the latest album offering.

They have since had a chance to redeem themselves to me. I open my iTunes to see a new song from Linkin Park today for the Transformers 2 movie. I pay my elevated $1.29 for the track (seriously Apple...) and pop it onto the iPhone for the day. The first listen through was ok, but I couldn't help keep in my head that it sounded a heck of a lot like the first single off of Minutes to Midnight, What I've Done.

Now, I thought I was maybe just a hyper-critical fan, but then my girlfriend tells me it reminds her of the same thing, unprompted by me. And hey, we may both be hyper-critical. After all, the song was written specifically for the movie and not for anything else. But seriously, you could've gotten a lot of bands to put together that song in my opinion. Linkin Park has something special that is being wasted.
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On another musical note (pun not intended until after I saw it, then I thought it was cheesy enough to stay), I just recently bought the first album from Carly Comando. This pianist has impressed me greatly with her ability to put together music I find moving and that calls me to desire to worship God. It is on the way in the mail. But in the meantime, I, much like I suggest to you, will be listening on the MySpace page and through the two YouTube videos she has composed music for.

Gluttony

As I have 15+ hours of driving a week plus time at a desk drawing regulator stations, I have a lot of time to listen. I have started to listen to podcasts and teachings to get thoughts on my mind. While I may admit that I listen to almost too much stuff to absorb all the facts, it is causing my mind to focus well on certain things. One of these has been the Seven Deadly Sins. I've been listening to a sermon series from Kairos - Los Angeles, a sister church of Illini Life, as well as a lecture series from Tony Campolo both on the topics. Today I listened to anger from Kairos and Gluttony from Campolo.

Campolo is a brash man who said, "Go out and love a fat person today." So awkward, funny, and true. I think he was trying to hit upon the idea that weight doesn't define worth, and people should be loved and respected regardless. However, he also encouraged healthy eating and lifestyle.

Being heavier than I desire, any God given principles on the topic are helpful. The two that continually hit home are exercise and eating less. However, one that sits on the sideline is eating slower. This is a good principle that I know. The body doesn't usually register "fullness" until about 15 minutes after starting to eat. I know this, but often ignore it.

However, it isn't ignored because I don't beleve it. I very much so do believe it. Instead, I am always eating on the run. Now this is definitely connected to another story about me that says I am too busy. When I have 15 minutes to eat, I use every one of them and slam down hard.

Here comes the Biblical principle:

Eat slowly and use a meal as a time of accountability, sociability, teaching, learning, exploring, engaging. Draw it out so you eat slower and enjoy company more. Jesus taught when people sat down to eat. The 5000 who ate didn't run off to the next meeting they had with another friend. On the contrary, they seem to have enjoyed the company they had. This is why I love living in a house. When we share meals, time slows and company is enjoyed.

I would even say one more step to take would be to eat and talk. Too many times we shovel for 15, feel awful, and then talk. What if we instead just took our time? Now, like I said, I am not there yet, and I have to fight with busyness. However, I love this idea and plan to spend more time eating slower, enjoying company that I have, and not super seeking different company around every meal time.


-- Post From My iPhone

Socialism?!?!

Ok, so shock value aside...

As I drive to work every day, I travel mostly on interstate 74. Along I-74, there have been signs cropping up announcing a coming construction project. On a couple of these signs are the insignia seen below.

These are the logos to indicate a project I'd part of the National Recovery and Reinvestmet Act. (inconsequential to anything about the project, I think the logo on the left is pretty slick) Kinda cool to see stimulus money affecting me. At least sorta. If anything, politics can feel far away on the federal level, so it is cool to see it hit "home."

Anyway, I think it'll be neat to see the project develop. I have never traveled a route this consistently to see change occur. But this time should be different. I am pretty excited to see it through from start to finish. I just hope the work delays aren't too long...

-- Post From My iPhone

When to post photos?

So, as an unofficial photographer for a fair amount of people, I end up postig photos a lot. Not only do I run into the predicament of wanting to post to Flickr and not waste my time with tagging crappy res. facebook photos, but also when to post. Some of it comes down to when I have time, and if I am busy, it ain't getting posted right away. But, I think I see some advantage in waiting and letting the memories of the images and event float back rather than posting the same night, absorbing, and then moving on. I love photos so much because they carry such weight in the memory department.

So, the question is, when do you post photos? Do you think there is a good lead time to wait before posting? Do pictures lose their staying power when posted quickly and forgotten about? Does it do a disservice to people if you don't post pictures quickly because they can't build on the momentum of the event?

Thoughts?


-- Post From My iPhone

The artist

I believe my appreciation of art has grown since my relationship with Christ has grown. I think I always knew beauty existed and was real, but until given a Jesus-centric world view, for me, art was stale. I could easily dismiss something as not art, rather than embracing the creative nature of it. Now I see it in everything.


-- Post From My iPhone

Jesus and his short time: a thought

In my readings of scripture, I don't get the impression Jesus spent a lot of time discussing what the Hebrew means here vs. the Greek there in the scriptures. I don't get the impression he spent a lot of time discussing the science of salvation. I don't get the impression he spent a ton of time discussing the nature of existence or transubstantiation or how to run a contemporary worship service.

God didn't come into the world to say "Hey, this part of scripture means that!" Instead, God came into the world to redeem it and explain the simplicity of that message. It is a fulfillment of the law, not a re-clarification of the law, but a fulfillment.


I'm sure there is something wrong or confusing about my thought here, but I wanted to get it down before I forgot it while falling asleep.

Jesus didn't come to be a scholar, but a savior.