Here are a few links to celebrate the end of the week.
{ 1 comment }
September 2005
At the end of the summer, I posted an annotated list of the music that I had listened to all summer. I thought it might be a cool idea to do the same thing near the end of every month. If nothing else, it will be fun to go back and see which albums I listened to in certain months. Here are September's lucky winners.
The Fray, How to Save A Life: This album is amazing. It's one of those rare "perfect" albums where there is not a single song that isn't good. I've listened to it straight through probably twenty times by now and it continues to blow my mind. The music is beautiful piano-based melodic rock. If I mentioned earlier that they are going to be huge, this album only makes me believe that even more. Do yourself a favor and . Favorite tracks: Over My Head (Cable Car), How to Save A Life, Hundred, Vienna
Josh Rouse, Nashville: There are certain albums that will always be associated with a season for me. John Mayer's Room for Squares will always remind me of autumn, and I believe Nashville will, too. Rouse has a very chill songwriting style reminiscent of Ryan Adams. My brother likes him, too. Favorite tracks: It's the Nighttime, Carolina, Saturday
David Gray, Slow Motion: I think I've always been a David Gray fan at heart, but I never really knew it until this summer, when my friend Megan bought me White Ladder. Gray is best known in the states for his song "Babylon". He is huge in the UK, and this album debuted at #1 on the UK charts. For good reason, too. I love White Ladder, so when I heard that this new album was coming out, I had to hear it. The music is gorgeous, ethereal, and heartbreaking at times. Favorite tracks: Alibi, Slow Motion, Ain't No Love
Death Cab for Cutie, Plans: I hadn't heard much DCFC before this last month, except for some brief clips while I was hanging around B. Mick's cubicle. He told me I should check them out. So... I did. I listened to Transatlanticism and thought it was pretty good and so I picked up a copy of Plans. I like Plans way better than Transatlanticism. It took me a while to get used to the lead singer's voice, which I originally didn't like, but it has grown on me. It's a total rainy day album, which probably has something to do with the fact that my brother and I listened to it twice through on the way to Minneapolis in the middle of the night during a huge thunderstorm. Favorite tracks: Summer Skin, Soul Meets Body, Brothers on a Hotel Bed
Sigur Rós, Takk...: Sigur Rós is so good. If you don't know them, it's probably because they have never had any top 40 radio airplay, nor will they ever. They are from Iceland, and they make music by using a synthesizer, a bass, an electric guitar played with a cello bow, and a dude who sings like a soprano in either Icelandic or a language he just made up.1 The music is very emotion-evoking. At times the music makes me feel like I could fly and at other times like I should apologize to someone for something. I can't even explain their music. It's good. This album is way "happier" than their past albums have been, and I really like it. I like the old stuff a lot, too. Favorite tracks: Glósóli, Sæglópur
Switchfoot, Nothing is Sound: I've been a Switchfoot fan since I bought the A Walk to Remember soundtrack. Yes, I bought the A Walk to Remember soundtrack.2 Shortly after that, Switchfoot hit it big, crossover-style, with the album Beautiful Letdown, which is easily my favorite album of theirs. I heard a bunch of the new stuff this summer when they played at the Iowa State Fair and I was super excited for the new CD to come out. I remember when they played "Happy is a Yuppie Word" and I loved it. This album equals, if not betters, Beatiful Letdown. Although they have made it big in the mainstream, Switchfoot hasn't lost the spirit that has made their music so powerful. Favorite tracks: Lonely Nation, Happy Is A Yuppie Word, Golden
The Click Five, Greetings from Imrie House: I'll admit, I'm a little embarassed to have this album on the list. I like to think that I have a very sophisticated music taste, but The Click Five's self-described "new school power pop" is just so, well, catchy. One can't help but bob their head to the first single, "Just the Girl." I guess I am a sucker. While I am admitting things, I should probably say that "Just the Girl" is also the ringtone on my cell phone. Yeah, I know... lame. Favorite tracks: Good Day, Just the Girl, Say Goodnight
{ 3 comments }
A couple of weeks ago, Laina showed me a solitaire game that she had been playing a lot lately. You begin by drawing a six-by-six square of boxes on a sheet of paper. Lined paper works well because it gives you guidelines. You then put the number one in any square and then continue numerically until you run out of boxes. The catch is that you have to follow a pattern for entering the numbers:
If you're moving up, down, left, or right, you must skip two boxes to enter the next number. If you're moving diagonally, you must skip one box. You can see in the picture that I skipped two boxes to enter "2", then one box diagonally to enter "3", and so on. The goal of the game is to get as high a number as possible. The highest number you could get would be 36, because there are thirty six boxes. My highest ever was 35, and I thought that 36 was impossible. Until today.
In what might be the most boring class ever, I hit the holy grail of 6x6 number solitaire1. I made it all the way to 36. I thought at first that I would post the solution, but then I decided that I should have other people try. If you get 36, let me know. It took me a couple of weeks. It's a great way to zone out in boring classes.
A friend of mine wrote down every move I made, whether it was a 4 block move (up, down, left, right) or a 3 block move (diagonal) and there was no real pattern, except that 4, 4, 3 happened a bunch of times. Perhaps there is a pattern, but I think if I figured it out the game would lose it's time-wasting appeal.
Maybe I'll try a 7x7 square from now on. Would more squares make it more difficult?
- I'm not sure if this game has an official name. I did some searching on Google for the name but I kept finding mathematical stuff. [↩]
{ 3 comments }
About a week and a half ago, I receieved what I thought was a letter in the mail. It was addressed to my school address, and there was no return address on the envelope. Upon opening the envelope, I discovered that there were three $20 bills inside. For a second, I thought that's all that was in there until I did what most people would do in this situation. I flexed the envelope [so it looked like this: () ], and I disovered a sticky note on the inside. On the sticky note was a scribbled message:
"Thanks for helping w/the kids."1
That's it. Along with no return address, there was no name on the sticky note. It was written fairly poorly - that is, it surely wasn't a third grade teacher's handwriting. Also, whose kids are we talking about here? True, I did work in student ministry all summer, but who would feel the urge to send sixty anonymous dollars my way? The whole thing is kind of weird, and I have nowhere to send a thank you note. The note is now hanging on my desk... it fascinates me. And it kind of makes me chuckle.
To whomever sent me sixty dollars the other week: Thank you. I was more than happy to help with the kids. I used the money to pay for a .
- The person didn't even take the time to write out the word "with". Seems ironic, considering he or she took the time to address the envelope (not to mention finding my address), and put sixty dollars inside. [↩]
{ 3 comments }
If you know me at all, you know that I pride myself on "discovering" artists before they hit it big. With John Mayer, I performed Your Body Is A Wonderland at my high school in February of 2002, , and seven months before YBIAW was released as a single. I had tickets to a Jason Mraz show in the spring of 2003, but could not go because of a blizzard. He began his first national tour the following fall, when he . After seeing an awesome performance by Gavin DeGraw on Pepsi Smash (a defunct television show that had artists perform live) in July of 2003, I pre-ordered his album Chariot. His first single was October of 2004.
It may seem like I am inflating my own balloon. I am not. I am simply pointing to the fact that I have a history of finding good artists before most of the general public. Which brings me to my point.
.
They are totally on the verge of becoming huge. Their first full-length album, , was released today. A few nights ago a good friend of mine was wearing one of their shirts and I asked about them. I decided to check them out that night and they blew me away. I immediately ordered their Reasons EP, which I got today, and pre-ordered How To Save A Life, which should be here tomorrow or Thursday. The song that completely sold me was Over My Head (Cable Car), which is their first single, and you can see the video on the .
You gotta check these guys from Colorado out.
{ 2 comments }
I can't get this off of my mind. Like a lot of people in the world, I am struggling with the tragedy of Hurricane Katrina and trying to answer many difficult questions. In my previous post about Katrina, I simply offered up my prayer and pointed people to the Red Cross website. As things progressed, I updated the post and offered some links to what I believe to be interesting commentaries on the theology of Katrina.
I was going to leave the post at that, but it keeps coming back. Tonight, before evening worship, one of the campus pastors asked for our prayer regarding the message (about Katrina) he will be giving tomorrow for chapel. He said that he is struggling to find the right words - if there are any - for this situation.
There has been talk that Katrina is somehow () on the city of New Orleans. This idea is not new, we heard it immediately following the events of 9/11 [1]. I was going to devote this post to exploring my own thoughts and theology about Katrina, but I found an amazing commentary that I feel completely sums up my thoughts.
Rick Phillips, on the says[2],
A week ago I was interviewed by a local reporter, and he asked me if I would like to ask God why tragedies happen. I responded that I did not need to ask God, because the Bible tells me already. He was surprised, and followed up by saying I surely believed that God was not involved in such things. I responded that, no, I believe God is sovereign over all things and his providence is governed by holiness, wisdom, goodness, and love.
Well, what do I think now? Do I believe this of Hurricane Katrina? The answer is Yes. The Bible describes God’s sovereignty as comprehensive and complete. Jesus said that not even a sparrow falls to the ground without the Father’s will (Mt. 10:29). Paul stated that God has “determined allotted periods and the boundaries of [mankind’s] dwelling place” (Acts 17:26). Both of these statements make it impossible that God was ignorant of Hurricane Katrina and her destruction or unable to intervene to prevent the disaster. Therefore, God is necessarily sovereign over such events, which happen only with his knowledge and will.
But does this perspective shatter the Bible’s statements about God’s holiness, goodness, and love? The answer is No.
The first reason is that God’s sovereignty does not remove contingent causes. There are plenty of reasons for Katrina other than God’s supposed neglect or vindictiveness. Katrina resulted from natural causes having to do with the weather. Though I know little of this science, I gather that the El Nino and long-term weather patterns are responsible for Katrina. So is there is no moral cause for this disaster? Yes, it was our first parents’ sin that caused the original paradise world to be warped so that things like violent hurricanes happen. Paul explains, “The creation was subjected to futility… For we know that the whole creation has been groaning in the pains of childbirth until now” (Rom. 8:20-22). Paul’s point was that the creation itself longs for its rebirth in the new heavens and new earth, since the Fall has placed it under the curse of death. One aspect of that curse is the violence of nature, as seen in Hurricane Katrina.
What about the people of New Orleans? Was Katrina God’s swipe of judgment at “Sin City”? We do not have warrant to claim that this was a specific judgment like Sodom and Gomorrah. Moreover, if we think New Orleans was worthy of God’s judgment, we need to remember that we also are worthy of judgment. Indeed, in this sense, I am personally responsible for Katrina – just as is our whole sinful human race. I am reminded of G. K. Chesterton’s answer to an essay contest that asked, “What is wrong with this world?” He submitted the shortest answer: “I am.” So if Adam and Eve are responsible for Katrina, and if sinners in the path of Katrina are responsible, then so am I responsible for this being a cursed world under the bondage of death. In short, sin – Adam’s, yours, and mine – is responsible for the violent natural order that brought Hurricane Katrina.
The other reason Katrina does not disprove God’s holiness, goodness, and love is God’s purpose in even the worst events. I quoted Acts 17:26 as proving God’s comprehensive sovereignty. But Paul goes on to show God’s purpose in exercising his sovereignty: “that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel their way toward him and find him” (Acts 17:27). Because of sin, everyone is destined to die. But God works in the affairs of this world to draw already dying people towards life in him. God permits trials large and small to call our attention to what matters most: our eternal destiny. Without suffering, the truth is that we will go on ignoring God to our eternal destruction. God wants Hurricane Katrina to result in multitudes of otherwise dying people seeking him and finding him so as to gain eternal life – for this we should labor and pray.
Because God is sovereign over tragedies like this with a purpose of grace, we should respond not with anger at him but with abiding hope and praise. This is not a senseless tragedy, because God will bring good through it for those who trust in him (Rom. 8:28). The most horrific, wicked, and evil event ever to happen on the planet earth was the judicial murder of the holy Son of God, Jesus Christ – an event in which God was completely sovereign and man was completely guilty. But the cross was made by God the most blessed, glorious, and holy event ever to happen on the planet earth. Likewise, Katrina was a terrible event. But God will bring good from it. Through death he offers resurrection life, if we will turn through faith in Christ to the sovereign God of holiness and grace.
I will continue to pray for the victims and survivors.
What are your thoughts about Katrina? Feel free to leave a comment.
[1] I don't agree with this at all. See commentary below.
[2] Phillips, Rick. September 4, 2005.
{ 1 comment }
