Velvet Elvis by Rob Bell: A Review

the author
Originally uploaded by grb3000.

What a great idea!

What a great idea!

Eels to release live cd & dvd with string section.

E
Originally uploaded by grb3000.

Listen here to a an interview with E concerning the writing and recording of Eels latest album Blinking Lights and Other Revelations

Morning Dose

A New Law by Derek Webb

(vs. 1)
don’t teach me about politics and government
just tell me who to vote for
don’t teach me about truth and beauty
just label my music
don’t teach me how to live like a free man
just give me a new law

(pre-chorus)
i don’t wanna know if the answers aren’t easy
so just bring it down from the mountain to me

(chorus)
i want a new law
i want a new law
gimme that new law

(vs. 2)
don’t teach me about moderation and liberty
i prefer a shot of grape juice

don’t teach me about loving my enemies
don’t teach me how to listen to the Spirit
just give me a new law

(pre-chorus/chorus)

(bridge)
what’s the use in trading a law you can never keep
for one you can that cannot get you anything
do not be afraid
do not be afraid
do not be afraid

My blog is worth $10,726.26.
How much is your blog worth?

I'm growing a beard

because my son said it makes me look like Obi Wan Kenobi.

Down the hatch.

studio
Originally uploaded by grb3000.

Reputation by Derek Webb

i know i always let everybody down
i know i've got a bad name in this town
'cause my last friend stopped calling months ago
i know i always make you wait around
i know the way my promises must sound
and even though you've heard it all before
darlin' could you listen just once more

i've got a reputation with everyone
but i don't want one with you
i know you know me well enough by now
and you're loving me as well as you know how
but i need one more chance to let you down
'cause no one else will give it to me now

i've got a reputation with everyone
but i don't want one with you
i know you know me well enough by now
and you're loving me as well as you know how
but i need one more chance to let you down
'cause no one else will give it to me now

with you, i'm so glad to get into a bad situation
'cause nothing makes us close, nothing like a little incarceration

i've got a reputation with everyone
but i don't want one with you
i know you know me well enough by now
and you're loving me as well as you know how
but i need one more chance to let you down
'cause no one else will give it to me now...

Nic Armstrong

You can't find a decent music video on MTV or VH1 to save your life these days. But FP is hooking you up.

Ohio boy does it up right.

rockin' the mandolin
Originally uploaded by grb3000.

Why is Tim Easton not famous yet? It is perplexing to me. He's got the complete package. Stellar musician (as evidenced by his guitar work on this live recording), a perfectly raspy voice, and lyrics far more intereting and substantive than most of the stuff out there these days. I just don't get it.

Easton's music was introduced to me by my friend Nand. Easton himself was introduced to me by me. He use to drink coffee everyday at the coffee shope where I did a lot of my work back in the olden days before the church had office space. He's from Columbus and spends a few months here every once in a while. If you get a change to catch him live, you'll be glad you did.

Check the link for a live track from a show in Brussels of all places!

Listening to: Joseph Arthur

Joseph Arthur
Originally uploaded by grb3000.

You've been loved 

You don't know how you feel 
Are you a dream? 
Are you for real? 
Cause you don't ever slow down 
To find what you lost or lose what you found 

No one's saying what you need to hear 

You've been loved 
You've been loved 
You've been loved 

You've been loved 
You've been loved 
You've been loved 

It's always hard to admit 
Most days you feel like you don't exist 
Temptation sneaks past your fists 
Until the devil won't let you resist 
Oblivion is what you want 

But you've been loved 
You've been loved 
You've been loved 

You've been loved 
You've been loved 
You've been loved 

You've been loved 
You've been loved 
You've been loved 

What you're gonna do with your life?
What you're gonna do with your life?
What you're gonna do with your life?
What you're gonna do with your life?

You've been loved 
You've been loved 
You've been loved 

This is my only comfort in life and in death

That I am not my own
but belong body and soul in life and death
to my faithful savior Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood
and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

He also watches over me in such a way
that not a hair can fall from my head
without the will of my Father in Heaven.
In fact, all things must work together for my salvation.

Because I belong to him,
Christ by his Holy Sprit, assures me of eternal life
and makes me whole heartedly willing and ready
from now on, to live for him.

I'd Want To Be A Polar Bear

Ok. So I've been thinking about it now for a long time and I think I've finally come to a conlcusion. If I had to be an animal I would choose to be a polar bear. Now here's my reasoning: First, if you're going to be an animal, you'd generally like to be a real mean kick-butt kind of animal at the top of the food chain in your habitat, right? Now sharks certainly qualify, so for a while I thought I should be a shark. Sharks don't worry about ANYTHING. They just cruise around with that evil frown on their face looking for something to chomp. To a shark, everyone is lunch. After consideration, however, it seemed to me that sharks aren't really enjoying themselves. Terrorizing the open seas must be hard work. It just doesn't seem like much fun. When it comes to fun, there's always monkeys. But monkeys stink. And throw poop. I think with monkeys it's not so much that they are fun as it is that they are all insane. I don't want that. Plus, chics don't dig guys who throw thier own poop. So then I thought, I got it! The sea otter! Sea otters have fun. THey don't throw poop as far as I'm aware. They've got that cuteness factor for the ladies. Oh... but sea otters don't inspire awe and fear into thier natural enemies. That's when it occurred to me. Polar Bears. They're always slip sliding around in the snow. They've got the cute and cuddly factor working for them on account of thier smiley faces and bright white fur. But they also will eat anybody. They're bad bad carnivores. So that's my pick. Polar Bears. What's yours?

We Shall Over Comb!

combover
Originally uploaded by grb3000.

There is a fine line between vigilance and denial. This man has crossed that line.

I guess bald isn't THAT bad.

male pattern
Originally uploaded by grb3000.

I've Moved These Comments Up Here Into A Post For You, In Case You Missed It

anon said...
as a very devoted sufjan fan, i was aware of him being mildly christian, but would argue that if you put the lyrics of any song from illinoise up against thos of your derek webb, you wouldn't find any of the overt imagery or blatant references to christ with sufjan. Also, he made an entire album of songs relating to the zodiac.

After more thought about the subject, I've begun to think that it's more a question of subject matter. I subscribe to the "high fidelity" school of pop music - namely that 98% of good songs are about heartbreak, rejection, or loss. And i think as a fairly dejected, quarter-life crisis sufferer, i appreciate those themes in music, and have come to accept them. Christian music, on the other hand, is far too uplifting for me. Like most of america, i don't want to be cheered up, i want to see the dregs of existence. This is why so much of our entertainment centers on sex, violence, crime, heartbreak, etc. Even the passion of the christ had to have an uber violent crucifixition scene. It's just what the people want from entertainment. We save being saved for sundays only ;)
______________________________________

Sunday, 08 January, 2006
Greg said...

anon,

Thanks so much for your comments. I appreciate and relate to your sentiments. I wonder if perhaps your understanding of what Christianity is about is not a bit off. One of the great heartaches (and frustrations!) of my life is the widespread misapprehension of the essence of Christianity.

You talk about "sex, violence, crime, heartbreak", "rejection and loss", "the dregs of existence" as if those are aspects of life outside of or foreign to Christianity. No doubt many Christians and churches are guilty of giving that impression. But in my experience (and in the understanding of the great bulk of Christians who've practiced our faith in diverse regions and times for two thousand plus years) Christianity and the life of the Christian is all about those things.

Sex, violence, crime, heartbreak, rejection, loss... man, you just described 50% of my experience living life as a Christian. In addition there is passion, drama, love, mercy, grace, mystery and longing. Not only in our lives, but the Grand Story, the Redemptive Drama that gives shape to our faith. (I still maintain that the dirtiest book sold in any Christian bookstore is the Bible).

I think a part of what is unsatisfying about the music being produced by the "Christian" music industry is that not much of it respects the complexity of life as a Christian who, while experiencing redemption (being "saved") is doing so in a world and a life that is both beautiful and broken. The problem is that the Christian music iNdustry in general, produces art from the perspective that "being saved" is just for Sunday. This allows no room for the "Christian" expression of joy in the beauty of the world or the expression of sorrow, grief and indignance over the brokenness of the world. What is left is a white bread, sugary-sweet, watered down, pseudo-religious, kum-bah-ya kind of Christianity that has been so neutered and nullified that it no longer looks anything like the "Christ" we are named for.

Any attempt (by Christians or non-Christians) to compartmentalize our lives in such a way that confines Christ to one "sunday" segment or slice of the pie, will always produce an experience and understanding of Christianity that is distorted, unattractive and ultimately unfulfilling.

If you are in the central Ohio area, I'd love it if you could visit our church and hang out with us sometime. We are attempting to forge lives wholly forged by Christ and his message. In this view, the sex, violence, crime, heartbreak, rejection and loss all have their place. As does, passion, truth, beauty, brokenness, mystery, grace and love.

Here's to seeing the big picture.

Peace.
_____________________________________________________

Monday, 09 January, 2006
Greg said...

BTW, Seven Swans is an album all about the transfiguration of Christ.
_____________________________________________________

Monday, 09 January, 2006
anon said...

If you only know one or two things about Sufjan Stevens, chances are the second is that he is a practising Christian who isn't afraid to let his beliefs impact upon his work. "If someone asked, I would say that I was born again. I would look you right in the eye and say it."

"I don't know anything about CCM. I'm not an evangelist. I'm a songwriter and a storyteller. If that story happens to be about Christ, then perhaps, in some odd semantic way, the song could be termed 'evangelical'. I gladly accept that. I also sing about divorce. And murder. And adultery. I sing about chickens and war and bathrooms. In my mind, the gospel is not something to pander and pawn off like a diet soda drink. There is no product. There is no selling point."

"This is what it means to be born again: to fully and completely disengage with the preconceptions and preoccupations of the adult world and its religions, to dismantle all laws - of physics and society - and yield yourself to the birth canal, and what comes after, in which everything begins to shake and tremble with all senses fully turned to the centre of the universe, the creator, God the Father, in whose cultivation we begin to know and understand our true selves, our real selves, as a reflection of God's image, his creation, like newborn babies, full, fresh, suckling, elated and laughing at everything. But honestly, I have no idea how this relates to my music. I hate talking about this stuff."

"I'd like to spend less time talking about God and more time being in God's presence. I think that would put an end to this conversation, once and for all."
___________________________________________

Monday, 09 January, 2006
anon said...

that's my kind of christian

Christians & Fiction

Why does Christian fiction (like Christian music) suck? Here is an article which sheds light on the issue. Some good world view issues here.

2: Lyrics That Demonstrate A Belief System that Respects the Complexity of Life as a Jesus-Follower in a World Which is Both Beautiful and Broken

Go Down Easy (by Over the Rhine)
words and music: Bergquist and Detweiler
recording: Good Dog Bad Dog


Go down easy babe.
Go down slow.
Take all the time you need.
We've no place else to go.


Gonna put on my favorite dress.
Put my hair up too.
Take me North, South, East or West.
I guess I'll leave it up to you.


You threw a noose around my shadow.
Got me into all this mess.
I would have dove in head first anyway
for less, for a whole lot less.


Go down easy babe.
Go down slow.
Take all the time you need.
We've no place else to go.


Say farewell to the confines of my own back yard.
Weeds growin' 'round the flowers.
Sometimes the only way to break the curse
is to leave it all behind.


Find the slow curve of a back road,
one hand on the wheel.
Drive till I remember how it feels.
So this is how it feels. Oh.


Go down easy babe.
Go down slow.
If there's anything better than this
I'd like to know.

Lyrics That Demonastrate A Belief System that Respects the Complexity of Life as a Jesus-Follower in a World Which is Both Beautiful and Broken

Casmir Pulaski Day, from the album "Illinoise", by Sufjan Stevens


Goldenrod and the 4H stone,
the things I brought you,
when I found out you had cancer of the bone

Your father cried on the telephone,
and he drove his car into the navy yard,
just to prove that he was sorry

In the morning, through the window shade,
when the light pressed up against your shoulderblade,
I could see what you were reading.

All the glory that the Lord has made,
and the complications you could do without,
when I kissed you on the mouth.

Tuesday night at the Bible study,
we lift our hands and pray over your body,
but nothing ever happens.

I remember at Michael's house,
in the living room when you kissed my neck,
and I almost touched your blouse.

In the morning at the top of the stairs,
when your father found out what we did that night,
and you told me you were scared.

All the glory when you ran outside,
with your shirt tucked in and your shoes untied,
and you told me not to follow you.

Sunday night when I cleaned the house,
I find the card where you wrote it out,
with the pictures of you mother.

On the floor at the great divide,
with my shirt tucked in and my shoes untied,
I am crying in the bathroom.

In the morning when you finally go,
and the nurse runs in with her head hung low,
and the cardinal hits the window.

In the morning in the winter shade,
on the 1st of March on the holiday,
I thought I saw you breathing.

All the glory that the Lord has made,
and the complications when I see His face,
in the morning in the window.

All the glory when he took our place,
but he took my shoulders and he shook my face,
and he takes and he takes and he takes.

mute math: Christians, Musicians, Don't Suck

mute math
Originally uploaded by grb3000.