Beyondordinary

I picked up (and by picked up I mean downloaded) Weezer’s two latest singles.

The most recent, The Greatest Man That Ever Lived (Variations on a Shaker Hymn), is cool if not just for the fact that it’s title and theme deriving from Aaron Copland’s work, but because it is a really well-constructed, creative song. Reviews and descriptions I’ve been reading have put it in the same arena as Bohemian Rhapsody. Now, I understand why one might do this; it travels through several musical styles/genres throughout the course of 5 minutes. However, it is nowhere even close to the scope of Queen’s masterpiece. Queen is epic; this is fun. I say this in love — it’s a great single that I’ve listened to quite a bit since purchasing it.

The other single, Pork and Beans, on the other hand, is brilliant. I know it’s been making its rounds on the radio, but I don’t listen to the radio, so I’m late in discovering it. It’s a new song that takes me back to what made me love Weezer in the 7th grade. It’s fun, and it rocks. This new sound builds on that idea though, since they use a wider variety of instrumentation that is, at times, akin to Cake (whom I also enjoy very very much and comes from the same time era).

So, due to these little gems, I’ve pre-ordered the new album due out in June. We’ll see if the entire album is worth it, but these seem to be a step in the right direction and I think you can enjoy them without necessarily  purchasing the whole thing.

I think this is a funny video.

To quote the blog I got this from: “Rarely does reality eclipse Monty Python.”

(HT: Brant Hansen)

*Edit: It’s not real, I found out. But still funny.

Figured it was only a matter of time.

Check it out here.

In light of Sandals Church’s vision statement, I found this excerpt from the Velveteen Rabbit to be very cool.

What is REAL?” asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. “Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?”

“Real isn’t how you are made,” said the Skin Horse. “It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.”

“Does it hurt?” asked the Rabbit.

“Sometimes,” said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. “When you are Real you don’t mind being hurt.”

“Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,” he asked, “or bit by bit?”

“It doesn’t happen all at once,” said the Skin Horse. “You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.”

(HT: thelongbrake)

I’ll be the first to admit that when I first listen to a song, it’ll either catch me or it won’t. Then I end up listening to an album a certain way. I’m excited to get to certain songs, so I skip other ones. Then after I get over the initial listening, I almost always come back to the ones I always skipped and they become my favorites. This is one of those. I’m very excited to hopefully introduce this at Sandals in the future.

Saviour King
Hillsong United

Let now the weak say I have strength
By the Spirit of power that raised Christ from the dead
Let now the poor stand and confess
Oh my portion filled and I’m more than blessed

Let now our hearts burn with a flame
A fire consuming all for Your Son’s holy Name
And with the heavens we declare
You are our King

We love You Lord, we worship You
You are our God, You alone are good

Let now Your church shine as the bride
That You saw in Your heart as You offered up Your life
Let now the lost be welcomed home
By the saved and redeemed, those adopted as Your own

Let now our hearts burn with a flame
A fire consuming all for Your Son’s holy Name
And with the heavens we declare
You are our King

We love You Lord, we worship You
You are our God, You alone are good
You asked Your Son to carry this
The heavy cross, our weight of sin

I love You Lord, I worship You
Hope which was lost, now stands renewed
I give my life to honour this
The love of Christ, the Saviour King

I remember so many people focused on this song when the album was released, and I wondered why. I guess it just took me a little longer to catch on. I love it.

This was at the beginning of a book I’m reading right now, Shane Claiborne’s The Irresistible Revolution:

Love without courage and wisdom is sentimentality, as with the ordinary church member. Courage without love and wisdom is foolhardiness, as with the ordinary soldier. Wisdom without love and courage is cowardice, as with the ordinary intellectual. But the one who has love, courage, and wisdom moves the world.

– Ammon Hennacy (Catholic Activist, 1893-1970)

So, you up for it?

The difference between literature and journalism is that journalism is unreadable and literature is unread.

– Oscar Wilde

I don’t know how long it’s been since I’ve been camping. Like, real camping. Probably years. Probably lots of years.

But today that will change.

Britt and I are heading up to her folks’ place in Sacramento, from which we will then travel on to Lake Oroville State Park. It’s formed by the tallest earth-filled dam in the country. Sounds fun. I’m not much of a camper. But I think it’s time to give it another try. If nothing else, it will be wonderful to be in some cooler weather and relax with family.

I’ll try to set up some posts for while I’m gone, since I’m not sure what I’ll be able to do in the wilderness!

Happy holiday weekend.

…anyone else see something amiss?

hm. Is it like that Pirates of the Caribbean thing?

I’m not sure if I’m just a terrible, ungrateful, irreverent American, but I really don’t like Jury Duty. I refer to it as doody. It sounds the same, but I can have a secret meaning to myself while I say it.
No feeling can beat the dread you have the morning you report, the anxiety as they call lists and ask questions, or the immense relief when you are dismissed.

That was my day today. Since I am pretty useless when I have to wake up early, I didn’t eat anything before taking off. The room full of prospective jurors was told that everyone one of us was going to be called today. No easy escape today. I was called to a courtroom with 50+ other people. The judge seemed warm in his manner of speech, but was really not very nice when it came to questioning the jurors (Two college students were let go, but reassigned to report on Christmas eve). It went until our lunch break, the questions, answers (excuses?), and I hadn’t been asked a thing yet.

Then the other problem came. In my foolishness and arrogance, I assumed that, like every other time, I would not be kept past mid-day. So I didn’t get my afternoon shift at work covered. My shift started at 12:15. I was supposed to be back in the courtroom at 1:30. Problem. So I went to work for an hour, got someone to come in early to cover me while I was gone, and went back to the courtroom; all the while wondering what would happen if I just left work, or just didn’t go back to court. No food for lunch break. No food so far today.

All it took was one question to me, and I was dismissed. It’s simple: I can’t afford to miss a week of work. So the relief came. Wonderful. But still had to finish work.

So the stress and lack of food must have taken their toll, because when I picked Britt up from work she oh so lovingly told me that I looked “terrible.” Doody takes its toll.

Was the day a complete drag? Nope. Dinner was amazing. (I was ridiculously hungry, AND it tasted very good). And even though I’m out of town this weekend, I went to band rehearsal. It was great. If you guys read this, I was excited last night. You sounded fantastic.