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Top 25 Albums of 2007
25. Josh Ritter - The Historical Conquests of Josh Ritter
24. Band of Horses - Cease to Begin
23. Mike Farris - Salvation in Lights
22. Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - Live at Radio City
21. Amiina - Kurr
20. Ryan Adams - Easy Tiger
19. Eluvium - Copia
18. Aqualung - Memory Man
17. Foo Fighters - Echoes, Silence, Patience, Grace
16. Cary Brothers - Who You Are
15. Derek Webb - The Ringing Bell
14. Lovedrug - Everything Starts Where It Ends
13. The Shins - Wincing the Night Away
12. Thrice - The Alchemy Index: Vols. 1 & 2
11. Sigur Ros - Hvarf/Heim
10. Jose Gonzalez - In Our Nature
9. Feist - The Reminder
8. St. Vincent - Marry Me
7. Iron & Wine - The Shepherd's Dog
6. Dillinger Escape Plan - Ire Works
5. Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home
4. Nick Cave & Warren Ellis - The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford OST
3. Battles - Mirrored
2. Radiohead - In Rainbows
1. Silverchair - Young ModernCurrent Music: The Ocean - Orosirian |
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It is interesting to note that Abraham had no church affiliation, no denomination and no spiritual designation other then “Man Who Knows God.” His children and his children's children had no religion either. Abraham had a running conversation with God for well over 25-years, yet God never felt it necessary to tell him how to live, how to worship or how to raise his children through a set of rules. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob were without a religion, yet all three had mighty encounters with God.
God told Abraham to leave his country and to follow Him (Genesis 12); Abraham obeyed and was richly blessed for the rest of his life. Isaac was so blessed that even the evil sinners in the land recognized that God was with him (Genesis 26:28). Jacob, following after his dad's pattern, was quite the deceiver, yet God gave him many children, finances and great favor. Even Esau (Isaac's favorite son), from whom Jacob stole the blessing and the birthright from, prospered far above those around him.
It appears that none of these three men attended a church. The scripture never mentions that they followed a pattern of what we would consider worship, tithing or sacrifice. None of these men benefited from living in a country that was Godly or from teaching tapes, great preaching or what we would consider spiritual gifts.
Yet, all of these men walked with God in the middle of a grossly sinful and violent culture. They more then survived; they were wildly successful to the point that surrounding kings took notice.
When reading the story of Abraham and his children, it almost feels as if they have no way to know God except through a real experience with Him. There is no Christian worldview for them to be intellectually swayed by; there is no excellent worship service that would draw them in emotionally; and there are definitely no cultural benefits of serving just this One God.
Their relationship with God was raw and real, open and honest. They were rugged men who heard and responded to the voice of One they came to know better and better. They did not base their knowledge of God upon what someone else told them, but rather walked according to who they knew God to be from personal experience.
What has gone wrong with God's people in this day and age then? We have leadership books, marriage seminars, get-rich-the-Christian-way conferences, healing tapes, CDs, religious schools, spiritual entertainment and a myriad of other tools to help us maintain a Christian walk in the midst of a world (at least in America) that is fairly kind and accepting of how we live our lives.
But many Christian still abuse others, get drunk, divorce, lie, live gluttonously, cheat, steal, hate, dishonor, and live sinfully at about the same rate much of the rest of the world does.
What has gone wrong? Have we accepted the idea of God intellectually without the life-transforming experience found through repentance? Have we felt the Spirit of God in the music and melodic message of well-trained communicators and emotionally agreed with the kindness and peace within that Spirit without accepting the life-giving death of Christ at the cross? Have we accepted all the cultural Christian trinkets without accepting Christ, replacing the reality of a blessed Jesus connecting us to God with just another religious pattern of how to look clean while remaining sick and filthy? Have we industrialized God in such a way that we cannot find Him in the midst of all the religion? In the midst of everything we need to do, need to know, need to say, need to wear and need to act like, have we forgotten the simplicity of just living life with Him?
My prayer is this: Help me hear. Challenge me to live large. Challenge me to death. Challenge me to poverty of self so that You can be seen in me. Challenge me to clean out my ears of the religious rubbish that I seem to be addicted to. Challenge me to shut off the voices of temporarily great preaching and ankle-deep teaching so that I may be able to hear your voice.
Maybe the story of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is our story—as they were God's people outside of a church setting, so we are called to be. The New Testament Church lived within community, but it was always meant to benefit those outside the community (and never meant to be an introverted, self-serving group like it became within several centuries).
Maybe this story of Abraham, a man living and moving as God's temple (even before “you are the temple of the Holy Spirit”), is a story like Jesus’ also. He was brilliant at an early age and could have used it for position within the current church structure, yet Jesus founded His Church in the midst of heartache, misery, pain and defeat. Jesus gave us the model of how to be the Church, yet even today we are more concerned with how to do church.
Our story is guaranteed another page and another chapter; there are more opportunities to be explorers, heroes, great dancers and mighty fighters. There are more mountains, valleys, rivers and deserts to travel. As we move to the next page of this journey, let us be sure to write something new instead of re-writing what we already think we know.
Relevant MagazineCurrent Music: Straylight Run - Hands in the Sky (Big Shot) |
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If
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Jul. 7th, 2007 @ 12:03 am
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I am very confused these days. I just finished translating the story of Samson from the Septuagint. I don't know why God bestowed favor upon him. His conception was a gift from God and his parents devoted him to God. He was to never drink in excess or eat anything unclean, never kill nor be near a dead corpse, and never to cut his hair. All throughout the account of his life, he utterly failed this three aspects. He knew he was supposed to be an ascetic for God and he chose to do hemartika instead. All the while, Elohim watches and grants him favor to inflict damage upon the Philistines. I don't understand and it kind of makes me feel out of control. Obviously the Septuagint is part of God's narrative through history, and He'll use the disobedient just as much as the obedient but it seems like the just path can sometimes lead nowhere while the unjust path inflicts what God wants. I'm not saying, 'Let's do whatever is wrong.' I'm merely saying the God of the bible is more complicated than I ever imagined.Current Music: Band of Horses - Our Swords |
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Rugla
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Jun. 15th, 2007 @ 10:38 pm
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I'm in the Stranger!
30. Antioch Bible Church
Lake Washington High School Gymnasium
12033 NE 80th Street Kirkland
Sunday services: 9 am and 11 am
www.abchurch.org
I’m circling around the gym, trying to find a cute girl I can sit next to. There are none. Seriously, NONE. This is absolutely not the place to pick up chicks. I also notice that I am the only one here with sideburns.
Don’t let the gymnasium fool you. They’re very high-tech here. There’s three giant screens, and video cameras, and wireless headset mics for the preacher dudes. There’s a Christian indie soft rock band, and the lyrics are projected on two of the screens so we can sing along. I throw in some barbershop harmonies but no one seems to notice.
On the center screen there’s a slide show of the downtrodden. I’d guess there are around 800 people here. The audience has a much higher percentage of black people than you find on Capitol Hill, though is still mostly white. There are a number of black man/white woman couples. Very few black women. One of the preacher dudes mentions his Norwegian wife and jokes that his children are “Blackwegian.” Everyone laughs. They’re very big on the multi-cultural thing here.
After the show I chat with the main pastor, Ken Hutcherson. I confess to him that it’s practically my first time in a church. He announces it loudly and excitedly to the people around us. Then he puts a firm grip on my shoulder and steers me to a table where some women take my information so they can follow up with me later. Luckily I have Christopher Frizzelle’s e-mail address memorized. DAVID NIXONCurrent Music: Amiina - Glamur |
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Top Ten Albums of Spring Quarter:
1. Silverchair - Young Modern
2. Wilco - Sky Blue Sky
3. Battles - Mirrored
4. Cary Brothers - Who You Are
5. Lovedrug - Everything Starts Where it Ends
6. Aqualung - Memory Man
7. Minus the Bear - Planet of Ice
8. Air - Pocket Symphony
9. Andrew Bird - Armchair Apocrypha
10. Rodrigo y Gabriela - Rodrigo y GabrielaCurrent Music: Ryan Adams - Two |
| » My Cosmic Autumn Rebellion (The Inner Life As Blazing Shield Of Defiance And Optimism As Celestial S |
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Last Friday I went to Neumos to see Menomena. It was my first 21+ show and an interesting experience. Ben Gibbard from Death Cab for Cutie, David Bazan from Pedro the Lion, and Jim Halpert from the Office were hanging out at the bar. What a strange group of people. The music was awesome. Menomena has three members who play a plethora of instruments. They were pretty tight and on the whole, impressive.
Then on Saturday, Tara and I decided we wanted to go to the worst place possible for dinner. We both decided that Old Country Buffet was probably our best choice.
Some cliff notes from our fantastic dinner:
-Tara took one bite from each item before deciding each item was disgusting.
-The ice cream section had about 4 bowls with ice cream melted all over the side and on to the counter obviously left by children that weren't allowed to have any more by their parents.
-When Tara got her ice cream, the only spoon left was touching garbage so she had to use my spoon.
- There was garbage everywhere on the floors.
-The whole time we were openly complaining about how horrible the place was, the manager was sitting in the booth right behind us on a date.
Jun. 4th, 2007 @ 05:05 pm
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| » Storm in a Teacup |
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Just got home from the Decemberists. It was a good show but I liked Damien Rice last week much better. The Decemberists was cool because it was free. I like knowing people who can get me on guest lists. I'd love to go to Aqualung and Menomena. Hopefully both free. In fact, there are so many shows that I'd love to see. Mewithoutyou, Lovedrug, Explosions in the Sky, Porcupine Tree, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, David Bazan, Feist, and M. Ward.
The problem is twofold.
#1 I don't want to wear out my welcome by getting in free to everything I see.
#2 I like shows less and less. Seattle is stressful. Shows end late. I hate standing for 5 hours.
I honestly think shows would be perfect if they started at 6 pm. Damien Rice began at 9pm. He didn't even get on stage until 10:30. I feel like anyone who had the money to see Damien Rice probably had somewhere to be the next morning. Why must shows be so late. What poor planning by promoters. We as mindless drones go see our favorite bands anyway and feel it the next day when we haven't gotten enough sleep.
I think I've become an old man.
May. 5th, 2007 @ 01:33 am
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| » Magnolia Mountain |
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My top Ten albums I've been listening to this quarter.
1. Dustin Kensrue - Please Come Home
2. Anathallo - Floating World
3. Owen - At Home With
4. The Album Leaf - Into the Blue Again
5. Menomena - Friend and Foe
6. Fair - Best Worst Caise Scenario
7. Iron & Wine - Woman King EP
8. Ryan Adams - Love is Hell
9. A.C. Newman - The Slow Wonder
10. Page France - Hello, Dear Wind
Mar. 11th, 2007 @ 10:29 pm
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| » Truly, Madly, Deeply |
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I drove a car today.
Mar. 3rd, 2007 @ 10:47 pm
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| » Bass Guitar |
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I went to Easy Street Records yesterday and bought Sufjan Stevens Presents: Come On! Feel the Illinoise on vinyl and today I put it on. It was an amazing experience.
In addition, I've started to use loops during worship at church and I really think it's going to take me to the next level.
If you don't know irony, read Plato.
Feb. 26th, 2007 @ 10:14 pm
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| » Recovery |
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I played my first set tonight with songs that I've written since the whole Endeavor ordeal. It was quite amazing and I've forgotten the feeling. It's fun. I was also surprised that 60 people showed up considering it wasn't promoted that much. Yay
Feb. 11th, 2007 @ 10:10 pm
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| » Play Crack the Sky |
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Consider the Ravens by Dustin Kensrue
Well I’ve got bills to pay
And taxmen on my tail
I just keep praying
That the check’s in the mail
And there are times
It seems that everything’s lost
When I’m blown and I’m tossed
But then I see
Between the river and the ravens I’m fed
Between oblivion and blazes I’m led
So Father, give me faith
In providence and grace
Between the river and the ravens I’m fed
Oh sweet deliverer you lift up my head
And lead me in Your way
Well I’ve grown sick and tired
Of trying to stand still
I’ve learned to let the wind
Blow me where it will
To throw myself into the will of the wave
How can we ever be brave until we’re free?
And though I’m walking through the valley
Of the shadow of death
And evil’s all around,
It’s coming from the right and the left
I trust that I will see Your glory above
Oh Your banner of love, flies over me
Feb. 1st, 2007 @ 09:46 pm
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| » Dogwood Rust |
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I'm not sure what I think about this.
By Rabbi Daniel Lapin
I am certainly not a Churchill. I am not even a Revel. I am having enough trouble just trying to be a Lapin. But I am issuing a very serious warning about deep consequences, just as they did. It is a warning about the earliest stages of what could become a cataract of disasters if not resisted now.
During the 1930s, Winston Churchill desperately tried to persuade the English people and their government to see that Hitler meant to end their way of life. The British ignored Churchill which gave Hitler nearly ten years to build up his military forces. It wasn’t until Hitler actually drew blood that the British realized they had a war on their hands. It turned out to be a far longer and more destructive war than it needed to be had Churchill’s early warning been heeded.
In 1983 a brave French writer, Jean-Francois Revel, wrote a book called How Democracies Perish. In this remarkable volume he described how communism’s aim is world conquest. For decades he had been trying to warn of communism’s very real threat. Yet in January 1982, a high State Department official said: “We Americans are not solving problems, we are the problem.” (Some things never change.) A good portion of the planet fell to communism which brought misery and death to millions because we failed to recognize in time, that others meant to harm us.
Heaven knows there was enough warning during the 1980s about the intention in parts of the Islamic world to take yet another crack at world domination. Yet instead of seeing each deadly assault on our interests around the world as a test of our resolve we ignored it. We failed the test and lost three thousand Americans in two unforgettable hours.
I am not going to argue that what is happening now is on the same scale as the examples I cite above, but a serious war is being waged against a group of Americans. I am certain that if we lose this war, the consequences for American civilization will be dire.
Phase one of this war I describe is a propaganda blitzkrieg that is eerily reminiscent of how effectively the Goebbels propaganda machine softened up the German people for what was to come.
There is no better term than propaganda blitzkrieg to describe what has been unleashed against Christian conservatives recently.
Consider the long list of anti-Christian books that have been published in recent months. Here are just a few samples of more than thirty similar titles, all from mainstream publishers:
"American Fascists: the Christian right and the war on America.”
"The baptizing of America: the religious right's plans for the rest of us."
“The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason”
"Piety & politics: the right-wing assault on religious freedom."
"Atheist universe: the thinking person's answer to Christian fundamentalism."
"Thy kingdom come: how the religious right distorts the faith and threatens America.
"Religion gone bad: the hidden dangers of the Christian right."
What is truly alarming is that there are more of these books for sale at your local large book store warning against the perils of fervent Christianity than those warning against the perils of fervent Islam. Does anyone seriously think America is more seriously jeopardized by Christian conservatives than by Islamic zealots? I fear that many Americans believe just that in the same way that many pre-WWII westerners considered Churchill a bigger threat than Hitler.
Some may say that today’s proliferation of anti-Christian print propaganda is nothing to become worried about. To them I ask two questions:
First, would you be so sanguine if the targets of this loathsome library were black, or say, Jewish? Just try changing the titles in some of the books I mention above to reflect racism or anti-Semitism instead of rampant anti-Christianism and you’ll see what I mean.
Second, major movements, both positive and negative, that changed the way Americans felt and acted came about through books, often only one book. Think of Rachel Carson’s 1962 error-filled “Silent Spring” that resulted in the pointless banning of the insecticide DDT and many unnecessary deaths. Other books that caused upheavals in our nation were Upton Sinclair’s “The Jungle,” many of Ayn Rand’s books, and of course “Uncle Tom’s Cabin.”
No, I would advise you not to underestimate the power of books to alter the behavior of the American public and I fear for an America influenced to detest Christianity by this hate-filled catalog.
It is not just books but popular entertainment also which beams the most lurid anti-Christian propaganda into the hearts and minds of viewers. One need only think of who the real targets of the recent hit movie Borat are. The brilliant Jewish movie maker, Sacha Baron Cohen, as his title character, using borderline dishonest wiles, lures some innocent but unsophisticated country folk, obviously Christians, to join him in his outrageously anti-Semitic antics. Cohen then triumphantly claims to have exposed anti-Semitism. In fact, he has revealed nothing other than the insatiable appetite of America’s social, economic, and academic secular elites for virulent anti-Christianism.
Even the recent PBS documentary, "Anti-Semitism in the 21st Century: The Resurgence," managed to do more attacking Christianity than defending Judaism. Singer Elton John informed the world that he “would ban religion completely.” He wasn’t referring to Buddhism. Rosie O'Donnell said "Radical Christianity is just as threatening as radical Islam.”
Richard Dawkins, an Oxford University professor is one of the generals in the anti-Christian army of the secular left. American academia treats him with reverence and hangs on his every word when he insists that “religious myths ought not to be tolerated.”
For those with a slightly more tolerant outlook, he asks, “It’s one thing to say people should be free to believe whatever they like, but should they be free impose their beliefs on their children?” Dawkins goes further and suggests that the state should intervene to protect children from their parents’ religious beliefs. Needless to say, he means Christian beliefs of course. Muslim beliefs only add to England’s charmingly diverse cultural landscape.
The war is against those who regard the Bible to be God’s revelation to humanity and the Ten Commandments to be His set of rules for all time. Phase one in this war is to make Christianity, well, sort of socially unacceptable. Something only foolish, poor, and ugly people could turn to.
Churchill correctly identified Hitler’s many incursions as a pathway to the precipice. The twentieth century provided many opportunities to identify the pattern in communism’s aspirations. It shouldn’t have been hard to identify the pattern in Islamic behavior since the 1970s. There is a similar pattern in countless seemingly disconnected assaults against Bible believing Christianity. We must identify the pattern for what it is—an overture to the obliteration of Biblical faith.
We have seen how a carefully constructed campaign pretty much made it socially unacceptable to drink and drive. For years there had been stringent laws against drunk driving. They achieved little. In the end, the practice was all but eliminated by groups allied with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and their effective ways of changing the way that Americans thought about it.
We have seen how a carefully constructed campaign has pretty much made it socially unacceptable to smoke. In the face of a relentless campaign (dare one call it propaganda?) Americans became docile and forfeited the right to make their own decisions. Nobody was willing to stand up to the no-smoking tyrants. Nobody even asked whether health was sufficient grounds for freedom to be reduced. Now entire cities and even states have banned smoking, not only in public places but even in privately owned restaurants.
Considerably more intellectual energy is being pumped into the propaganda campaign against Christianity than was ever delivered to the anti-smoking or anti-drunk-driving campaigns. Fervent zealots of secularism are flinging themselves into this anti-Christian war with enormous fanaticism.
If they succeed, Christianity will be driven underground and its benign influence on the character of America will be lost. In its place we shall see a sinister secularism that menaces Bible believers of all faiths. Once the voice of the Bible has been silenced, the war on western civilization can begin and we shall see a long night of barbarism descend on the west.
Without a vibrant and vital Christianity, America is doomed, and without America, the west is doomed.
Which is why I, an Orthodox Jewish rabbi, devoted to Jewish survival, the Torah, and Israel am so terrified of American Christianity caving in.
Many of us Jews are ready to stand with you. But you must lead. You must replace your timidity with nerve and your diffidence with daring and determination. You are under attack. Now is the time for you to resist it.
Jan. 18th, 2007 @ 03:47 pm
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| » Mountain Halo |
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She looks forward to what is coming
A chance to escape the temporary
To look beyond her troubles once more
as strength envelopes her frail body
she sings...
haute esti ten elpida
Another friend has left him again
His charity used as a dirty rag
He wears the filth for it's all he has
As his emotions cry for relief
He sings..
haute esti ten elpida
This is hope
The joy to look ahead
Comfort to cope
Those who have opened and bled
Jan. 9th, 2007 @ 09:54 pm
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| » Dear Mr. Supercomputer |
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Incubus was excellent last night. I am not sure if this one was better than the key arena show. Their lights were twenty times better and I was blown away with how they used them within the set. They played about as tightly as they did last time around. Brandon Boyd hit every note again. The set list was a little strange. They only played one song from A Crow left until finishing with two from that cd in the encore. So it would have been the best show ever if they played the songs they played last time with a couple new ones and did everything they did last night.
Jan. 7th, 2007 @ 08:37 am
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| » Silver |
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'The Lord wants us to be excellent' we say as we push everyone out of our way. We are here to succeed and we won't stop until it happens. When the whole world sees the Jesus we see, all things will be better.
Not far off, He hears us and smiles upon our wishes. A family willing to sacrifice their backs so we can use their shoulders to make it to the top. Yet we know this family is not from above for by selfishness they strive to take our profits.
Somewhere near He looks on and sends a guy who has been on top. Surely, some coaching will do us good. Yet on the contrary we know that all people have the purpose to deceive.
So we cry where is God? Where is His favor? We re-organize for the problem must be internal and then He answers us!
A company who can take us to the top of the world!
But of course that is not from the heavens because the purpose of business is to use others and we ourselves do not wished to be used.
Maybe God didn't want us to have success. If we were to have had a door open then we would have certainly known.
Jan. 4th, 2007 @ 09:46 pm
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| » Desire |
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It's time for my top ten albums of 2006. This is the music that makes me happy:
1. Mewithoutyou - Brother, Sister
This album is one of the best and most complete albums I've heard. The artistry is second to none and the compositional elements are pure genius. The lyrics are heartfelt to the point that you can hear how much he cares and the lyrical imagery is not lacking, to top it off. It is brilliant.
2. Damien Rice - 9
There's something about Damien Rice that gets to me in a good way each time I listen to him. His songs are carefully crafted and full with emotion. He's not afraid to miss notes for the sake of the feel and that makes each song even better. This album doesn't quite live up to his last one in songwriting and production, so for that reason it's not #1.
3. Ray Lamontagne - Till the Sun Turns Black
Ray's second album took a huge leap in his progression as a songwriter. Each song is full of melodies playing off each other and his use of strings and horns really put the record over the top. The only drawback comes from him not pushing his voice. One of the best parts of his first effort was how hard he pushed his voice. In contrast, this record has Ray's singing extremely reserved, which is good for awhile but not so great for an entire record.
4. Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
Muse took a page out of Queen's playbook in this album. All of their songs are extremely big and have a flair for the dramatic. The album is very eclectic with a lot of influence from dance music and that is its main drawback. What made old Muse so good was how they had an electronic influence without the feel that they were overproduced and, this time around, the overproduction is evident. There are times, though, that Muse really goes for the sonic kick in the teeth and it's those times that make this album shine.
5. Keane - Under the Iron Sea
Having only piano, vocals, and drums, Keane found it difficult on the first album to make their whole sound 'big'. In their second effort, they've found the correct mixture that makes the album sound so full. With beautiful melodies soaring over the music, Under the Iron Sea is infectious. The only big drawback comes from the lyrics. They are very bland and uninspiring. I'd almost rather he hum nonsense like Sigur Ros.
6. Incubus - Light Grenades
Light Grenades seems like it is a tale of two discs. Half of the album sounds like the song 'Priceless' from A Crow Left Of The Murder, but re-worked a couple of times. The other half of the album is extremely beautiful and, more specifically, 'Dig' may be my favorite song I've heard this year.
7. Jeremy Enigk - World Waits
Jeremy Enigk's solo album is beautiful. Each song dazzles in its simple yet technical precision. As a complete album it is fluid and a fantastic listen. The only major drawbacks are that some of the songs sound much like 'Heaven' from The Fire Theft and there are times when it seems that Jeremy is stuck in a melodic box.
8. The Decemberists - The Crane Wife
The first major label record from Portland's The Decemberists was pure joy. With two songs over ten minutes long, this folk rock band can duel with any prog band around. There are points on the disc that sound like all the classic 70s prog. In addition, each song is full of melodies that are sweet and invigorating. One must have a dictionary handy when listening though because the lyrics contain many words that are rarely used in English today. The only drawback is that while the songs are great, they sound very similar and are almost like the same song. So, it is a great album that sounds like a great song.
9. Gnarls Barkley - St. Elsewhere
Granted, the singles have been overplayed, this record is well thought out and put together. It's a fun album to listen to and is something that suits well to give you energy in the middle of the day. Even better, the music's actually good. The only problem is that it's rap.
10. Protest the Hero - Kezia
This album makes the cut soley on the fact that it is pure shred without the cheese that is involved with almost all technical bands out there. While the singer has a high voice, it is an even more bearable voice than Coheed's singer. The music melts your face the entire time it is on the stereo. The best part is that this band is young. They're like Avenged Sevenfold, but they're not idiots and they're not cheesy.
Dec. 12th, 2006 @ 05:07 pm
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| » And I Watch |
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I've been taking Astronomy this quarter and it really frustrates me. They make grand conclusions about the origin of our universe and the evolution of stars and I just don't buy any of it. The problem is that of all evolutionary thought in general. Specifically, that they prove their theory by confirming the assumptions they had before they even began to prove it. More precisely, they believe that evolution is correct and that the Universe is 13 billion years old and when they view a star their observation thus confirms their belief in theory because they want it to. I think a good example of this would be to observe a rubber ball. We see the ball bounce and are unsure why it bounces. We want to believe that the ball bounces soley because it is spherical. So we watch the ball bounce again and it does in fact bounce. Therefore all spherical objects bounce. The logic is faulty because not all spherical objects bounce. A bowling ball doesn't bounce, nor does a droplet of water in a vacuum. This is the same reasoning that goes into all forms of evolutionary thought and it frustrates me.
Nov. 22nd, 2006 @ 04:17 pm
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| » Wrists of Kings |
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I've had some excellent music as of late. On Saturday, Tara and I saw Starflyer 59 and Rosie Thomas. Starflyer was fine but I must say Rosie has an unbelievable voice. I wish I was that flawless. It was also funny because she sounds like a really tiny girl when she speaks. I bought her other cds so I am excited to hear more from her.
In addition, I found Damien Rice's new album and it is spectacular. I can't wait to buy it. Half the songs I've already heard, but it's great to hear the beautiful production he has on each of them.
On the topic of production, I forgot how much a good sounding eq makes music sound better.
Lastly, my parents finally sold Molly Maid. Not taking a paycheck in 2 years can really stress a family out.
Oct. 30th, 2006 @ 03:18 pm
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| » Same Ol' Road |
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I found an old friend's profile on myspace and it disturbed me rather deeply. It seems finding profiles on myspace usually does that but let me specify.
On this person's profile was an hour long video claiming that Bush blew up the World Trade Center. While I'm extremely apathetic in regard to politics and have no desire or care to refute the specific points of the video, I do want to say something on the topic of conspiracy theories in general.
To state it bluntly, conspiracy theories are bad for society due to their lack of solid reasoning and the effect it takes on its audience.
The very nature of a conspiracy theory is faulty. It throws a bunch of facts at you that lead to a grand conclusion. While facts leading to a conlusion is not neccessarily faulty, facts must lead to a conclusion. A typical conspiracy theory states a fact, like most buildings don't fall down due to extreme heat and the WTC wasn't burning very hot. It then follows with another fact; like Bush's cousin is the head of WTC security. It then states another fact, that the WTC had so much asbestos in it that needed to be taken care of anyway. Then it comes the conclusion: Bush blew up WTC. The problem lies within the fact that these statements don't flow. It's the same as saying, 'Donovan goes to UW, UW has a great med school, Donovan is a doctor.' In order for a conclusion to be true, the facts don't just have to be true, they must follow in a logical pattern i.e. If A, then B. A, therefore B.
Secondly, conspiracy theories have devastating effects on society as a whole. When push comes to shove, it promotes a skepticism that makes it impossible for truth to even survive. The very nature of reality allows for absolute truth to never be known conclusively. This doesn't give us license to find our own meaning to everything in the world. In order for even an idea of truth to exist there must be an absolute by which it is judged. There must be an idea of an apple for one person to say an apple is big or small. Likewise, truth must exist for us to be able to gauge truth. The problem with a conspiracy theory is that it makes a society skeptical of every facet of truth. When society becomes that skeptical it is impossible for it to function because the standard with which it is able to function has been undermined.
Therefore, conspiracy theories are a piece of crap.
Oct. 21st, 2006 @ 12:35 am
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