O Bearded One

During my "down time", i decided to stop shaving and grow a beard. Have never done anything close to that before, and figured this was the perfect time to do so. Last shaved in mid-November. Well, until yesterday, when i finally got tired of it and hacked most of it off. Had been hoping to make it all the way to Christmas and surprise the family on our trip to San Diego, but i just couldn't take it anymore. Guess i'm just not a beard guy.

Here's a photo, a rare and precious photo of a one-time phenomenon:

Detroit Santa

I thought this was a pretty funny cartoon, concerning the proposed Big 3 auto bailout.

http://yubanet.com/cartoon/Detroit-Santa.php

And i liked this quote from Dick Lamm, former Governor of Colorado:

"Christmas is a time when kids tell Santa what they want and adults pay for it. Deficits are when adults tell the government what they want, and their kids pay for it."

Jackson goes solo

The kids' school does a nice show every year around this time. This year, the theme was State Road 47 (why 47? only because it rhymes with heaven), and included scenes depicting three "on the road" parables:

• Sowing seed and the various types of soil


• The Good Samaritan


• The Prodigal Son

Jackson landed a singing part in the 2nd act about the Samaritan. He sang about "who is my neighbor?" using an "island flavor" style (think: reggae). If i were smarter (or younger, or had better equipment), i'd post the short snippet of video i took, but you'll have to settle for this photo...

Since this was the first time he's done anything remotely close to this, i marveled at his stage confidence. Not a hint of nervousness, and you can see in the photo that he's actually cracking a relaxed smile. In front of several hundred folks.

The Beauty Around You

Read a great article (it won the Pulitzer Prize) from the Washington Post about a reporter's experiment in "context, perception, and priorities." During a typical morning rush hour in DC, an unassuming young man sets up with his violin just inside a metro train station lobby and starts playing. He plays for almost 45 minutes, as over 1000 people walk by. Do you stop and listen? Do you even notice him?

In this experiment, the young man was world renowned musician Joshua Bell. His instrument was a multi-million dollar Stradivarius, and he played some of the greatest violin pieces in history. (You can listen to all 45 minutes yourself.) People pay big bucks to sit in the back rows of a concert hall to hear him play, yet here, out-of-context, almost no one pays him any attention, much less stops to listen.

This part of the article grabbed me the most:

There was no ethnic or demographic pattern to distinguish the people who stayed to watch Bell, or the ones who gave money, from that vast majority who hurried on past, unheeding. Whites, blacks and Asians, young and old, men and women, were represented in all three groups. But the behavior of one demographic remained absolutely consistent. Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away.

Can you see yourself here? Are you getting further and further away from that natural human instinct (your kids still have it) to appreciate beauty and art? And don't we frequently miss the beauty that God wants for us, the masterworks He brings to our lives, but we are so busy - so mind-numbingly busy - that we don't even notice the grandeur all around us.

And even if we can learn to take time out, don't we still get tripped up by context? Could i really learn something - not just something, but the very truths of heaven - from a shoe shine guy who likely never finished high school? Would a god really arrive humbly among the poor, as a helpless baby, no less?

Spoiled Again

Poker was all the rage on TV a couple of years ago. Its popularity has waned a bit, but the premier event - the World Series of Poker - still has a huge presence on ESPN. The WSOP is played in the summer, but ESPN doesn't broadcast it until the fall. And every year, i end up finding out in advance who won the Main Event. I don't want to learn, but someone always spoils it.

This year, i was extra diligent about not reading anything about it. Lo and behold, i thought i had made it, still in the dark* going into this week when it would finally be on tv. I set the DVR to record last night's final episode, because i was flying home from Boston, planning to watch it today. So what happens... i get online this morning to check email and football news quickly before driving the kids to school, and the big headline story on Yahoo is, of course, about the WSOP champion. And, of course, my eye catches the info before i realize it. Spoiled again!

What's even more amazing to me (i didn't discover this until a few minutes ago) is that ESPN was running a crawl yesterday that revealed the winner, and promoted their own show for later that night to see it happen. Who spoils their own show for their own viewers?

* I also just learned that the reason i was still in the dark was that the format had changed this year, and that play had actually been suspended back in the summer when they got to the final 9, and was resumed on Monday.

Peace of Mind

I think most of my readers know that i recently left my job and am in the process of figuring out our next steps. Part of that process is keeping my hook in the water in the insurance field and pursuing potential positions where they may be appealing. One possible opportunity came to my attention pretty quickly - a gig up in Boston.

So i'm headed to the airport on Monday, for the trip up there, still full of uncertainty about what might happen. I sometimes drive in silence - no radio, no CDs, etc - and enjoy the racing random thoughts in my brain. But about halfway there i kicked on the radio, and the song that was playing was by the rock band Boston. Hmm, coincidence?

This particular song was "Peace of Mind". Check out its lyrics...

Now, if you're feeling kinda low bout the dues you've been paying
Future's coming much too slow
And you wanna run but somehow you just keep on staying
Can't decide on which way to go

I understand about indecision
But I don't care if I get behind
People living in competition
All I want is to have my peace of mind

Now you're climbing to the top of the company ladder
Hope it doesn't take too long
Can't you see there'll come a day when it won't matter?
Come a day when you'll be gone

I understand about indecision
But I don't care if I get behind
People living in competition
All I want is to have my peace of mind

Take a look ahead
Take a look ahead

Now everybody's got advice they just keep on giving
Doesn't mean too much to me
Lots of people have to make believe they're living
Can't decide who they should be

I understand about indecision
But I don't care if I get behind
People living in competition
All I want is to have my peace of mind

Take a look ahead
Take a look ahead
Look ahead

Again, coincidence?

As Jesus taught us in his sermon on the mount, we do well to store up treasures in heaven, not here on earth. To seek Him first, His kingdom, His righteousness. And, as Keith Green sings, He'll take care of the rest. Boston's Tom Scholz, perhaps an unwitting theologian, would seem to concur.

Reading the Exit Poll

Exit poll observations from the 2008 Presidential election. All data from CNN.

• Why are women over-sampled, at 53% of those polled? Is that a fair representation of total voters?
  
• 55% of whites for JM, 4% of blacks, and only 32% of Latinos. A reformed GOP coalition MUST recapture or bring in Hispanics
  
• GOP must fashion educational tools for young voters. All they've known is Bush; young voters need to see a broader perspective of the GOP's history and principles.
  
• JM won white independents, at 49-47, but BO won self-described moderates at 60-39
  
• Would like to see breakdown between white Catholics and non-white Catholics
  
• JM wins marrieds at 51-47, but loses singles at 33-65.
  
• Mothers went to BO at 57-41. Surprised at that margin, though it comes mostly from single mothers (74-25).
  
• 28% say they are not worried about another terrorist attack, and this group went to BO at 67-30. Of the remaining 70%, they went to JM at 50-48. Hopeful justification?
  
• Contrasted to the above, those worried about health care costs (fully 66%) went to BO at 60-38. Those not worried went to JM at 56-42. Interesting. Similar results when asked about worries about the economy. Fully half at "very worried" and they went to BO at 59-38, while every other group, even those "somewhat worried", went to JM with comfortable margins.
  
• Most folks didn't buy BO's message about a "tax cut" for 95%, but it resonated with enough. A large majority (71%) believe their taxes will go UP under Obama, and they went to JM at 55-43. Of the 27% who believe their taxes will not go up under Obama, they went to BO at 82-16. Wow. Kool-aid drinkers or non-workers?
  
• Very surprised to see that the correlation with "confidence that the votes will be counted accurately" was in favor of BO. Those not confident (a small group at 9%) went with JM at 53-42. Preemptive sour grapes?
  
• Plenty of evidence that BO benefited from a cult of personality. In the % of respondents who believe that "only Obama" has the right experience, or judgment, or cares about you. At the same time, evidence that voters wanted leadership change to see if the economy could get back on track, and would likely have voted for whomever the Dem was.
  
• I can't help but wonder if voting against the bailout package would have turned the tide for JM. 56% opposed the bailout, and BO kept those at 50-48. Missed political opportunity? (Although it was of little help to Elizabeth Dole)
  
• Feelings on Iraq War were strongly correlated, but you wonder how much is causation in a reverse way. That is, BO supporters adopted his stances, vs. ideologies adopting a candidate. I know that tons of folks supported BO because of his stance on the Iraq war, but i'd guess it also works the other way. (I saw this with Huckabee supporters deciding that the FairTax was the greatest thing ever.)
  
• VP Palin was not a factor in JM's defeat, despite the left's hopes to stab the religious right (again). 60% said that Palin was a factor in their choice, and of this group, they went to JM 56-43.
  
• I've been saying all along that this election was about GWB, even more so than the 2000 election was about Bill Clinton. 50% strongly disapprove of GWB and they went BO at 82-16. But that's it. Even those that somewhat disapprove of GWB went to JM at a whopping 65-31.
  

Electoral College Prediction

I am predicting 322 electoral college votes for Barack Obama, well more than enough to clinch the nomination for President (it only takes 270). And i believe the total is more likely to be higher than 322 than to be lower.

To get to the 322, you can take John Kerry's 2004 total of 252, and then convert these states from GOP to Dem: Virginia, New Mexico, Iowa, Nevada, Colorado, Missouri, and Ohio.

I have a history of pessimism, having expecting GWB to lose in 2004. The tides of history are just too strong, however, this time around. Parties in power when the economic indicators are where they are just do not stay in power. Even without Iraq malaise, the GOP really had no shot this year, as much as i wanted to believe otherwise when Mike Huckabee was running.

If you want to play around with your own projections, there's a nice map at 270towin.

Farewell to AOL

AOL has decided to shut down many of its more helpful features: Journals (blogs), Hometown (where our family website is located), and their Photo site. So i have moved my two AOL Journals here to Blogger, and merged them back together into a single Mike's Musings blog.

All the prior posts - except for a handful of administative posts - should still be here. Some of the photos may be missing soon.

I still have no idea what to do about our family website.

P.S. We are keeping our AOL email addresses.

Bailout 08 = Iraq 02?

Just read an interesting article - written about a month ago - suggesting that the 2008 Congressional vote on the financial bailout package will be for the GOP what the 2002 vote authorizing the use of force in Iraq turned out to be for Democrats. In other words, if you want to be a viable candidate in 2012, you better have voted AGAINST the bailout.

For the sake of my tax burden, i hope that's not true, but rather that the plan actually works. I have serious doubts, however, and expect that the writer's thesis is likely to prove prescient, and that Mike Huckabee - and a majority of Americans - will be proved right yet again.

Encounter in the Park

Last weekend, with our beautiful weather, we wanted to get the kids outside for some play.  So we took them to a local city park.  As we arrived, there was a group of folks at the picnic tables, obviously celebrating a kid's birthday.  David asked, innocently enough (and thankfully out of earshot), "don't they have a home?"

Yes, David, our 3 year old.  I suppose this might somehow reflect poorly on our parenting skills, but i thought it was humorous.

Rescue Plan! Comin' to the Rescue!

All the buzz in Washington these days is the euphemistically termed "rescue plan" for our struggling economy.   We're not supposed to call it a bailout, even though the essence of the deal is that financial firms will be bailed out of their shoulda-seen-it-coming, too-aggressive mortgage loan deals. 

This thing is so widespread because everyone wanted in on the gravy train.  It was the very definition of a market bubble, even though the residue from the last bubble (dot-coms anyone?) still hadn't evaporated.  But you gotta get yours while the gettin's good.  There are fortunes to be made, bonuses to be "earned".  Everyone associated with the mortgage side was the belle of the ball there for a while.

Meanwhile, the Miss Prudences sat on the side like wallflowers, with no one to dance with.  Watching the glitzy belles twirl around the floor, dizzyingly flirting with a bevy of suitors.  And when the recklessness spun out of control, as it always does, the belles limped back, asking the wallflowers for a lift home.

OK, i've stretched the metaphor too far.  Let's return to DC and the scary proposition of all the pork-barrel-hogs banding together for a "solution".  It's our Rescue Plan, Coming to the Rescue!  I call it that, because it reminds me of the Rescue Pack from the kids' TV show Go, Diego, Go!  It's this dangerous idea that the federal government can just pony up more cash to solve any problem.  Just raise the debt ceiling and we can do it!

David Turns 3

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(A Couple) Quick Olympic Thoughts

The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing (btw, it's pronounced as a "j", not a "z") were the best Olympics games that i can remember, since probably 1984 in Los Angeles.  While i had a great time being in Atlanta in 1996, it just didn't compare to these games.

NBC really blew it by not covering more of the Decathlon.  I think it's the premier event of the Olympics.  When you also consider that an American won the event, it's mind-boggling that NBC didn't give up 2+ primetime hours of coverage.  A very telegenic, family-man American.  Bryan Clay could have been a media superstar.

Instead, NBC gave us a nice little backstory, a few minutes long, about 30 seconds of highlights from the first 9 events of the decathlon, and then full coverage of the last event, the 1500m run.  Clay had built such a huge lead that all he had to do in the 1500m was not quit, and so most of what American saw of Bryan Clay was a guy jogging around the track in dead-last.  Not the picture of the world-class athlete that he is.

Just a colossal missed opportunity!  NBC couldn't have cut a couple of hours from the incessant diving coverage?  Did we really need to see the prelims of synchronized platform diving?

Photos from Texas Trip

More photos, this time from our visit this summer to see the kids' grandparents (ie, our parents) in Texas.  Includes about 40 photos of fishing with Grandpa Scott, the day at Six Flags, and fun with the Carsons in Tyler.

Again, direct link to AOL photos.

 

Holden Beach Photos (Finally)

We finally found the long-lost memory card from Caroline's camera, which contained most of our photos from the spring break trip to Holden Beach.  I'm going to try something new here, using the AOL photo album.  In case it doesn't work, you can try our family website or this direct link.

 

Anatomy of a Roadtrip

We just completed our almost-annual drive to visit family in Texas and Oklahoma.  First, some stats from the driving...

·        Just over 3000 miles

·        About 175 gallons of gas (translation, $700)

·        Averaged 17.5 mpg

·        Averaged just over 55 mph

·        53 hours in the car!

We had a great visit.  I think the shorter timeframe - 3 daysat each set of parents vs. the more-normal week at each - helped everyone focus and ensured that wekept busy.  We were also pleased that the kids got to spend so much time with their cousins, on both sides.  They all had a great time together.

A highlight for everyone, except David who didn't get to go, was our trip to Six Flags Over Texas with my siblings and their kids.  It was my first time there in about 20 years, and the first time ever for our kids.  It was a bit hot, but the crowds were pleasantly sparse (recession at work?), so we didn't waste much time standing in hot lines.

In Tyler, the kids had a blast at Jumpin' Jacks and learning to shoot a bb gun.  David, of all people, got the only bullseye (but i think his Papa might have helped a little).  Emily was probably the best shot overall.

In Terrell, the kids enjoyed an evening of fishing, with Jackson and Caroline nabbing a couple.  And they had fun with the new pool slide.

Elsewhere, we had a very nice visit in Flower Mound, kicking back until the wee hours, chasing the big puppy (David called him the "big snappy puppy") down the street after midnight, as he took off after a stray cat.  And we were happy to visit Julie's Grandma Walker and aunts/uncles/cousins up in Oklahoma.

Certainly glad to be home, but certainly glad we made the trek.

Softball Success Story

Caroline's school started a new girls softball program this year.  When they started, Caroline was the only junior, and there were no seniors.  About half the team was still in middle school.  I fully expected it to be one long, dismal season.  Building a foundation may be ultimately rewarding, but it's no fun while you're doing it.  Generally.  We saw that around here when a new high school (Reagan) opened up with just underclassmen.  I don't think they won a football game for 3 years.  I worried about the same thing happening to the Calvary girls.

When they lost their first game badly, something like 20-1, i figured my fears were confirmed.  But then they WON their next game almost as easily.  And then the next.  Turned out we weren't all that bad.  Anchored by a stellar freshman pitcher, and supplemented by another junior whom Caroline recruited to join the team, who became the catcher and clean-up hitter, the girls logged a nice 10-5 regular season record, and the #2 spot in their district.  Coach was named coach of the year.  Well deserved.

Caroline started off at 3B, but the coach moved her to CF.  She wasn't thrilled about it, because when they're playing a weaker team, she hardly gets any action in the outfield.  But she's fast to the ball, and her defense becomes much more important when they play the good teams.  In their final game, she threw out a runner at 3B with a perfect peg.  I told her "that's why the coach moved you." 

He also altered her batting style.  Before, she swung almost totally with her arms.  She has a quick bat and a decent eye.  The coach taught her this walk-forward approach, similar to a Japanese professional style, where she takes a couple of steps toward the pitcher as the pitch arrives, which gives her a moving, running start toward first base.  Since she bats lefty and is a fast runner, this allows her to get on base pretty much as long as she makes contact.  It's termed slap hitting, and is apparently all the rage in softball (didn't know until searching for a link just now).

Anyhow, congrats to the Cougar girls team!  Hopefully, everyone can return next season to take the district championship.

Don't Kiss Daddy

"Don't Kiss Daddy!"

That's David's new favorite thing to say.  He gets very jealous of his mommy, and says this whenever i kiss her goodbye in the morning as i leave for work, or when i get home in the afternoon.

This morning, he immediately reached over and wiped my kiss off his mom's cheek.

Tornado!

A slew of tornados blew through our area on Thursday night.  Worst spate of windstorms that i remember in our 8+ years here in Winston Salem.  Getting it out of the way upfront - our family, our house was not damaged or ever in harm's way.  But others in the area weren't so lucky.

Started late Thursday evening, as we were wrapping up Caroline's softball game near downtown Winston.  The PA lady said that there was a "tornado warning" and that we should all start to leave (the game had ended already).  I was sure she meant "tornado watch", not warning, and i was right.  We drove home to not a hint of a storm.

But once home, we turned on the weather, and found that a line of storms was heading in from the west, and had likely already spawned one tornado just across the Virginia border.  The radar-hooks were blooming in adjacent Davie county, the far-eastern edge of which is a burgeoning bedroom community for Winston commuters.  Several of my co-workers, including my two closest work friends, live there in Advance. 

The weather folks on tv drew arrows on their maps to predict the path of the storm, and most of them would initially be coming right for us.  But all the bad wind stayed south of us.  Besides Advance, there was damage in the south part of Clemmons, down near the Davidson county line.  And then later, the funnel dropped down again in Greensboro near the airport.  That's when the one fatality occurred.

At home, we tracked the radar in the living room.  I had sent Jackson to bed, telling him that there would be rain and lightning, but not to worry.  I would wake him up if we needed to go to the basement.  A little after 10pm, after yet another large cell arose in Advance, looking very likely to take a more northern track our way, i decided to get the boys and shepherded everyone into the basement.  I just didn't want to have to rush if that time came.  Jack woke with a panicked look, knowing exactly whyi roused him.

We watched the tv reports from the basement.  Walked outside to marvel at the heavy rain (about 3 inches total), but the wind never got bad.  Caroline soon got text messages from her old boyfriend who also lives in Advance.  He reported that their neighbor had their roof blown off, and big oak trees were down everywhere.  Turned out, as we learned the next morning, that their neighborhood was one of the hardest hit. 

About 1130pm, i decided that the danger was past, and we all went upstairs to our beds.  It was exciting, in a way, though.  And it was one of the rare times when all 6 of us were together in the same room. 

Photo gallery

Totaled!

Last Saturday, Caroline was a passenger in a car accident.  She and the driver are fine, just a little sore.  The car, however, was totaled.  That car was my old Sebring.

So we reach the end of an era.  July 1997, from the Carmax dealership in Norcross, Georgia.  Back when Carmax had just started selling new Chryslers.  Only had about 65,000 miles on it, too, after almost 11 years.

I know from the insurance business that there is an extremely high probability that a parent of a teenager will get "that call" at some point.  IIRC, something like 80% of American teenagers will be in a wreck between the ages of 16 and 18.  So we are very grateful that our call brought news so benign.  No real injuries, news delivered by Caroline herself and not some police officer.

She had been at prom that night with a friend from church.  They took the Sebring, because the other kid was grounded from driving his Accord.  They had come home, changed clothes, and were heading out to a parent-sponsored after-party.  The boy knew the destination, so Caroline let him drive.  Just past the school, someone pulled out in front of them, the boy swerved and lost control.  The Sebring did a 360, they crossed the road and struck a brick wall on the other side of the road.  Like i said, quite fortunate.

My claims adjuster tried to keep it from being totaled, but there was extensive undercarriage damage, and it wasn't close.  So now i'm back in that dilemma of trying to figure out what vehicle, if any, to get for Caroline.  Safety is paramount, and i want something with side airbags.  But try to find something with side airbags for a reasonable low price.  For the cost of a good used car, i can get a new vehicle through my GM employee price.  But i struggle (mightily) with the thought of a teenager driving a brand new vehicle.

I think a period of carlessness could be healthy, despite the attendant burden on the rest of us, especially Julie.

Here's a photo of some of the damage...

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Favorite Albums of 2000s: #1

At long last, we come to #1, my favorite album of the decade (so far).  I don’t really need the parenthetical thought, as i am confident that nothing in the next 20 months will top this one.

 

1.      A Collision or (3 + 4 = 7) – David Crowder Band

 

When our depravity meets His divinity, it’s a beautiful collision. – David Crowder

 

When this group of guys from Baylor University – my fellow Bears – hit the modern worship scene in the early 00s, i kept an eye on them & bought their debut album (Can You Hear Us?) out of collegiate solidarity, but didn’t really get into their music.  So when my good friend Shane from Atlanta started hyping this album, before it was even released, i was intrigued but unmoved.  Shane had heard several pre-released tracks and was convinced that this was the big one, the F5 CD.  He was right.

 

Read this review at CT.  I would be even more effusive.  I couldn’t believe my ears.  I had never heard anything like this record.  Like the F5, i was blown away (sorry for the strained metaphor).  I now consider this the finest album i’ve heard since 1987’s The Joshua Tree by U2.

 

I rate 3 tracks as 5-stars:  the perfectly CCM-sensible Wholly Yours, the title track, and the fun rocker We Win! (a song the kids & i blasted on the car stereo when i drove them to school).  And a whole bevy of other outstanding tracks, including Here Is Our King, Do Not Move, and Rescue is Coming.  The song Our Happy Home concludes with a marvelous bit of sonic trickery (read about itin the link).

 

But like any top-notch album, it works best as a whole, in sequence.  DCB starts off with a call to worship in Come & Listen, then segues into pure CCM territory, and then (after a detour into a section we’ll call “let’s show off all the musical styles we like and can play”) into modern rock worship.  All in all, it adds up to masterpiece.  Plain & simple.

 

Other links:

·       DCB on myspace

·       DCB page at Christianity Today

·       Interview about the album and the tragedy of Pastor Lake’s electrocution

·       DCB at wiki

·       David on New Song Café, doing Here Is Our King and Wholly Yours

·       I Saw the Light (yes, it’s on this album)

·       Everybody Wants to go to Heaven (this is for my dad, and yes, it too is on this album, briefly)

·       Foreverandever

·       BBC Orchestra plays The Lark Ascending (DCB covers this, fugues it into a modern worship tune, and adds lyrics, closing the album)

Favorite Albums of 2000s: #2

2.  Come On Feel the Illinoise! – Sufjan Stevens

 

I waffled a long time between this and the album i ultimately selected as #1 for the top spot.  I almost listed this one as 1b, but thought that was cheating.  Whatever the label, this is one incredible album.  If you’re not familiar with the music of Sufjan Stevens, you’re really missing out on a musical prodigy, a genius at interweaving odd and simple instruments and sounds into his multi-layered, beautiful songs.  He may be a bit of an acquired taste for some, but if you “get it”, you’ll love it.

 

Start with Illinoise, which is for me clearly his best work.  As one reviewer put it, the music is “strange and lush… excessive and challenging.”  The conceit of the album is a tribute to the state of Illinois, the 2nd installment in Sufjan’s hyperbolic quest to create an album for each of the 50 states.  The lyrics are sprinkled with obvious and obscure references to all-things Illinois, but you don’t need a connection to that state to understand it or enjoy it.

 

This is another album sequenced to listen through from start to finish, with a number of sub-one-minutes sonic intermissions, palette cleansers perhaps.  Of the 22 tracks, there are only 13 or so full songs, but oh what great songs they are.  My two favorites are “Casimir Pulaski Day” and “John Wayne Gacy, Jr.” (a haunting song which will be off-putting for some – it’s not an ode to a serial killer, but Sufjan does draw parallels to our own sins, hidden beneath our metaphorical floorboards), probably the two barest (musically) tracks, but the two with the most story-like lyrics (eg, “Tuesday night at the Bible study we lift our hands and pray over your body but nothing ever happens”).

 

The title track, the one about Chicago, and the one about Superman are also stellar.  I love Jacksonville. 

And the Night Zombies with a cool funky groove.  Tallest Man, Broadest Shoulders.  I could listen to this album over and over again.  It’s one for the ages.

 

Other links

·       Decidedly odd-duck bio of Sufjan from his record label

·       Myspace – if you dig that sort of thing

·       Review of Illinoise at Pitchfork

·       The Predatory Wasp

·       Another version of the Zombies song (with strings)

 

Next up:  my favorite album of the decade.  Sic ‘em bears!

Up to #3

Recap of the Top 10 (so far)…

4.  Home – Dixie Chicks

5.  Glo – Delirious?

6.  All That You Can’t Leave Behind – U2

7.  All Right Here – Sara Groves

8.  The Beautiful Letdown – Switchfoot

9.  Remedy – David Crowder Band

10.  Divine Discontent – Sixpence None the Richer

 

 

3.  Ohio – Over the Rhine

 

This prolific band – the husband & wife duo of Linford Detweiler and Karin Bergquist – crafted their magnum opus with this 2003 double-album named after their home state (the band name itself is taken from a neighborhood in their hometown of Cincinnati).

 

The Phantom Tollbooth review in that first link above captures it all pretty well.  This is one to just put on and let it run through, with one great song after another.  Just absolutely beautiful music.  A work of art.

 

My favorite tracks are: 

·       Ohio (title track)

·       Lifelong Fling

·       B.F.D

·       How Long Have You Been Stoned?

 

Other links:

·       OtR on myspace

·       Jesus in New Orleans

 

Next up:  what do you get when you mix banjos, musical genius, a serial killer, Superman, and a million other odds and ends?

Favorite Albums of 2000s: #4

4.  Home – Dixie Chicks

 

Some of you may stop reading right there, and i guess i would understand that.  But let’s take a time machine, back to before all the controversy, back to February 2003.  The Dixie Chicks had just sung the National Anthem at the Super Bowl.  This album had just hit #1 on the Billboard charts (not just the country charts) for the 2nd time (after 3 weeks at #1 back in the fall 2002).  The album had garnered 4 Grammy Awards, including Best Country Album, and had charted two singles at #7 in the Billboard Hot 100 (Landslide and Long Time Gone).  Another single (Travelin’ Soldier) had hit #1 on the country chart.  And me, i was listening to this incredible gem over and over again.

 

My history with the Dixie Chicks goes way back, back to their beginning in 1989 in Dallas.  I remember catching them live in the West End at some music festival, along with my best bud Mike B.  Natalie wasn’t around back then, of course, at least not with the band (she was 14 at the time).  Marti and Emily were still teenagers themselves, but they had obvious talent as musicians.  They were little more than a novelty act, though.  A cowgirl band, complete with a cactus-shaped standup bass.  I tracked them over those early years through their newsletter, as they played every little county fair and honky tonk around Texas. 

 

So my roots with the Chicks run deep, and are not easily cast aside.  And even their detractors, if they can be honest about it, would have to admit that the Home album is top-notch stuff.  On a per-track basis, this might be the best album of the decade.

 

My favorite tracks are:  Travelin’ Soldier, Godspeed, and Top of the World.  I even like White Trash Wedding.

 

More links:

·       A Home – with James Taylor

·       Truth #2 – Julie and the kids & i used to dance around to this one

·       More Love

·       I Believe in Love

 

Next up:  a transcendent double album from a band from Ohio

Devilish Apostasy

I'm a big fan of Tyler Hansbrough.  There, i said it.  May my fellow Blue Devils forgive my apostasy, but i can't help but admire the guy.  He is a great representative of what is good about college athletics, in the same way that Bobby Hurley and Shane Battier were for Duke.  Tyler's the sort of player that you would love to have on your team; even a Duke guy can see and admit that.

This does NOT mean i am rooting for UNC to win another national title in this year's Final Four.  I don't really need a reason for that, beyond the obvious.

Favorite Albums of 2000s: #5

Continuing the countdown of my favorite albums of the decade, we’re up to...

 

5.  Glo – Delirious?

 

Like the previous U2 selection, this modern worship masterpiece was released in October 2000.  I always thought that if U2 – the 90s version of U2 – ever made a praise & worship album, it would sound something like Glo.  Or perhaps the sort of sound you might hope to hear from a heavenly rock band.  It’s that good.

 

Its premier track for me is “My Glorious”, a bombastic guitar-driven worship anthem.  Crank it up to 11 on this one.  But there are also excellent “quiet” songs, such as “What Would I Have Done?” and “Investigate”.

 

Glo is a case of an album being greater than the sum of its parts.  It has a cohesiveness to it that begs to be listened through in order, a rare happening in our ipod world.

 

Other links:

·       Video for Everything

·       Amazon reviews

 

Next up: the most controversial pick

Favorite Albums of 2000s: #6

Recap so far...

7.  All Right Here – Sara Groves

8.  The Beautiful Letdown – Switchfoot

9.  Remedy – David Crowder Band

10.  Divine Discontent – Sixpence None the Richer

11.  This Mystery – Nichole Nordeman

12.  Learning to Breathe – Switchfoot

13.  The Chess Hotel – The Elms

14.  Add to the Beauty – Sara Groves

15.  Get Behind Me Satan – The White Stripes

16.  She Must and Shall Go Free – Derek Webb

17.  Arriving – Chris Tomlin

 

This brings us to…

 

6.  All That You Can’t Leave Behind – U2

 

I recently decided to move U2 up to the position of the 2nd best band in history, behind only the Beatles.  And while i never thought it possible for the Beatles to be dethroned, i’m this close to doing it.

 

This release from October 2000 is U2’s best work since 1987’s The Joshua Tree.  It garnered the band a whopping 7 Grammy Awards, either for the album or its singles.  The song “Beautiful Day” alone snagged the band 3 of those Grammys.

 

There’s not a bad track on this album.  My favorite is Elevation.  Kite is overlooked. 

 

I would call this U2’s most accessible album.  It’s the one i would offer to the average non-fan to get introduced to the band.  It’s one i could see playing with my parents in the room, and not being on edge that it’s bothering them.  I don’t see these as negative things at all.

 

On a final note, this is an album that took on added resonance after the 9/11 attacks.  It’s almost eerie to listen to this album in that context, almost as if it were written in and for the aftermath.  Almost every track seems to connect, from the obvious “New York” and “Peace on Earth” to “Walk On” and others.

 

Other links:

·       Elevation live at Slane Castle

·       Special 9/11 themed video for Walk On

·       9/11 tribute performance

·       Super Bowl 2002 halftime show (Beautiful Day)

·       Kite live

·       Moving Grace video.  I’ll take it.

Favorite Albums of 2000s: #7

7.  All Right Here – Sara Groves

 

You’ll notice in these lists that i’m a lyrics guy.  I like music that has something meaningful, perhaps even important, to say, and i prefer these things to be said in non-obvious ways that are an admixture of elegance, cleverness, poetry, passion and timelessness.  Sara Groves is a premier songwriter, and she shines nowhere better than in this 2002 release.

 

My favorite track, and sure to be part of a future slideshow, is You Cannot Lose My Love.  This is a song that will be with us for a long, long time.  Another 5-star tune is “Maybe There’s a Loving God”.  The only track i could do without is Tornado.  But there are so many excellent songs here that i completely overlooked a gem like “Fly” until just recently.

 

Snippets of the lyrics (full listing)…

·       And in your hands the pain and hurt look less like scars and more like character

·       Every heart has so much history.  It’s my favorite place to start.  Sit down awhile and share your narrative with me.  I’m not afraid of who you are.

·       Pause in your busy day, look extra long my way, wink at me across the room.  Kiss me longer.  Touch my arm when i am by your side.  So i can fly.

·       And love to me is when you put down that “one more thing” and say nothing will come between you and me.  Not even one more thing.

·       They have a chart & graph of my despondency.  They want to chart a path for self-recovery.  They want to know what i’m thinking, what motivates my mood, to spend all night in the backyard, staring up at the stars and moon… Maybe this was made for me, for lying on my back in the middle of a field.  Maybe that’s a selfish thought, or maybe there’s a loving God.  Maybe i was made this way, to think and to reason and to question and to pray.

·       Man of sorrows, well acquainted with grief, drug down to the city dump, spread eagle on a cross beam, propped up like a scarecrow, nailed like a thief, there for all the world to see.

·       ‘Cause if you sit at home “you’re a loser”, “couldn’t you find anything better to do?”  Well, no, i couldn’t think of one thing i would rather waste my time on than sitting here with you.

·       You will lose your confidence, in times of trial your common sense.  You may lose your innocence, but you cannot lose my love.

 

Other links

·       Video for Less Like Scars

·       Interview from 2003

 

Next up: a wonderful album from the band that gave us the best album of the 1980s (and perhaps of all-time)

Fave Albums of 2000s: #8

8.  The Beautiful Letdown – switchfoot

 

The review in Christianity Today covers my thoughts pretty well on this one, the pinnacle (so far) for switchfoot.  I still think these guys have a Joshua Tree in them.  Or maybe they’ve already released it, but just over a series of albums rather than encased into a single CD.  I own all their CDs, and enjoy them all, but Beautiful Letdown is my favorite.

 

From the driving modern rock of Meant to Live and This is your Life to the elegiac 24 and On Fire, switchfoot delivers.  Musically and lyrically.

 

Snippets of the lyrics (full listing)…

·        We were meant to live for so much more

·        We want more than this world’s got to offer, we want more than the wars of our fathers

·        I don't know what they're gonna think of next, genetic engineers of the most high tech.  A couple new ways to fall into debt.  I'm a nervous wreck but I'll bet that that T.V. set tells us what we've wanted to hear

·        It was a beautiful letdown the day i knew that all the riches this world has to offer me would never do.  In a world full of bitter pain and bitter doubt, i was trying so hard to fit in, until i found out…

·        I don’t belong here

·        Easy living, you’re not much like the name

·        We are a beautiful letdown, painfully uncool, the church of the drop-outs, the losers, the sinners, the failures, and the fools

·        The tension is here, between who you are and who you could be, between how it is and how it could be

·        Today will soon be gone, like yesterday is gone

·        We’ve got information in the information age, but do we know what life is outside of our convenient Lexus cages?

·        Yesterday is a wrinkle onyour forehead… This is your life.  Are you who you want to be?  This is your life.  Is it everything you dreamed that it would be when the world was younger and you had everything to lose?

 

It just hit me… this is Ecclesiastes and Solomon.  And it’s funny, whenever i finish one of these write-ups, i wonder… how could this album not be ranked higher?  I may have missed the boat on this one.

 

Other links

The band talks about the album

Meant to Live video

This is Your Life

Ton of switchfoot videos

 

Next up: the highest ranking album by a solo female artist