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Thursday, 05 February 2009

Friday, 30 January 2009

  • Balance

    My wife tells me that I'm her favorite blogger.  She says this because she knows that I like words of affirmation but also because she knows that I enjoy to write.  If anyone can get me to blog, it's her.  But, as of late, my blog has been a casualty of a perfectly imbalanced life. 

    Balance is tough.  A kid.  A wife.  A job.  A community.  A house that is getting beat into submission by a brutal winter.  Graduate school.  Taxes.  Sick family members.  Sick selves.  Exercise.  Time for reflection.  Time for study.  Time for being.  Time at church.  Time at home.  I can never seem to balance it all very well.  Through the process of elimination and by prioritizing what I find valuable, I'm hoping to have a much better and more balanced year than I did last year.  When my life is balanced I feel better.  I speak better.  I speak better of others.  I am not nearly as tired.  People don't get on my nerves.  I don't tend to get on other people's nerves (as much).  It's so vitally important to me.

    So, hopefully I can get the dust off this blog and return to normalcy.

Tuesday, 23 December 2008

  • Great Music of 2008: My David Bazan Homage Choice



    Father Brian Finn by Right Away, Great Captain


    Why I like this song: It was close to the end of November and I hadn't used all the credits on my emusic.com account.  An album was recommended to me called The Eventually Home by Right Away, Great Captain (a side project by Andy Hull, the lead singer of Manchester Orchestra).  The album quickly became one of my favorites of the month and then the year.  Hull is admittedly a big fan of David Bazan of Pedro the Lion fame.  You can hear some similarities in song structure (certainly not the vocals though) in the following song.

    Other reasons why I like this song:
    • I've said it before but I really like warm effects on electric guitars.  You'll notice there's no bass guitar in the song but the lower end of the electric fills out really nicely.
    • Both of the Right Away, Great Captain albums are concept albums about a sailor.  I don't write music but I imagine concept albums take much intentionality and talent.
    • Father Brian Finn is Ed Norton's character in Keeping the Faith.  I didn't really enjoy the movie but I think we can all agree that Ed Norton is one bad mamma jamma.
    (RSS subscribers might have to click on the site to hear the music)

  • Update

    My wife's family is at our house for the next few weeks.  It's been a great time catching up with them and seeing them love on Nora.  She, of course, is appreciative of the affection!  My brother-in-law and all-around great guy, Bogdan, is blogging his first American experience on his site so you can visit to read about it (assuming most of you can read Romanian) and see pictures. 

Friday, 19 December 2008

  • Great Music of 2008: My Grey's Anatomy Pick



    Comes and Goes (in waves) by Greg Laswell


    LYRICS
    This one's for the lonely
    The ones that seek and find
    Only to be let down
    Time after time

    This one's for the torn down
    The experts at the fall
    Common friends get up now
    You're not alone at all

    And this part was for her
    This part was for her
    This part was for her
    Does she remember?

    It comes and goes in waves, i....

    This one's for the faithless
    The ones that are surprised
    They are only where they are now
    Regardless of their fight

    This one's for believing
    If only for it's sake
    Common friends get up now
    Love is to be made

    And this part was for her
    This part was for her
    This part was for her
    Does she remember?

    It comes and goes in waves,
    I am only let to wonder why
    It comes and goes in waves
    I am only let to wonder why
    Why I try

    This is for the ones who stand
    For the ones who try again
    For the ones who need a hand
    For the ones who think they can

    It comes and goes in waves,
    I am only let to wonder why
    It comes and goes in waves
    I am only let to wonder why
    Why I try


    Why I like this song: I don't care about George, Izzie, Meredith, McSteamy/McDreamy, or any of their ilk anymore.  It's too soap opera-esque for my taste (some would argue it always has been... rubbish!).  I first heard a Greg Laswell song last year on Grey's Anatomy and really dug it.  I bought both of his albums immediately and dug them.  For me, he's the intersection of Gomez, Mat Kearney, and Chris Martin.  Great stuff.

    Other reasons why I like this song:
    • The glockenspiel in the middle of the song to the end (it was the instrument I played for many years).
    • The banjo picking.
    • The first line of the song is a nice opening line.



    Greg Laswell - Comes And Goes (In Waves)
    Found at skreemr.com

nloucks

  • Visit nloucks's Xanga Site
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