Ecto Test

itunes: My Home Is The Sea from the album "Superwolf" by Matt Sweeny & Bonnie Prince Billy

This album, by the way is freaking awesome. Yes, Bonnie Prince Billy is a funny name. So is yours!

not so terrible

Shakin Sugar from the album "More Like The Moon" by Wilco




Well, we've had good luck going with Cheap Red Wine. Decent luck with Messiah Bold beer. And a couple nights ago we drank some Terrible beer, brewed by Unibroue in Canada. It's a Belgium style beer that went great with our terryaki steak and rice and even chocolate for desert. It had a pretty complex taste, part smoky, part fruity-sweet. It's 11% alcohol, so take your time! I would have preferred for the beer to have thicker head like Guinness, so I'll give it a B+ overall. Check it out.

I'm also messing around with ecto becuase Noel likes it. We'll see...

I'm your disappointment

So well all get disapointed with people. I've had friends say that they will do something, then they don't. It's dissapointing. What I'm realizing is that I'm that person much of the time.


Oh, it comes from good intentions of course.


I really want to start a band with every musician that comes up to me.


I really want to start this or that ministry and see it becoming something that deeply affects people in it.


I really want to be best friends with all the guys that I'm close with.


But much of the time it doesn't happen.


I think it's about not overcommitting. It's doing what I can with the time I'm allowed. It's doing the things that I'm best at, using what God has given me. Not trying to become an expert on the things that I suck at, becuase it aint ever gonna happen. It's about my "yes being yes" and my "no, being no." It's wisdom. I need more.

Stay Positive from the album "Original Pirate Material" by The Streets

New Music

Just got my first issue of Paste Magazine. Awesome. It comes with a cd sampler and sometimes a dvd sampler. This months is dvd includes about six music videos as well as short films.

also, go here click "message resources" and then "when man sinned" to hear a new song from our worship team. It's from a live acoustic set with a trumpet. Interesting mix.

Gideon from the album "Paste Magazine Sampler 18" by My Morning Jacket

Ish II

We started recording yesterday for our next ish cd. Much, much better experience. We are recording with Ryan at Elm Street Recording and it's really fun. He's a great engineer and is very reasonably priced. It will probably be another month until we have time to finish all our recording and then another month for printing. Maybe in time for Christmas!

I'm adding some pictures here...

Toronto and Back

So Kyle calls me Monday and asks if I want to go to Toronto.

um...why?

To see Pearl Jam for free.

Sure.

So we left at about 3 in the afternoon. Drove through the Indiana-like scenery that is the great lake area of Canada. And made it to the show. When we got there we realized we had really good seats. I mean, really good. Executive suites. We get to our suite and there about about 7-10 other people in our suite. A lady comes up to us and asks what we are drinking. The guy who hosted the suit shakes our hands and chit chats just enough to make us feel comfortable. We eat and drink all night for free and watch Eddie Vedder et. al. rock out in front of thousands. Then we drove home and went to bed at about 4 in the morning.

oh, and i added a picture of a truck we saw.

Ish

We now have Ish Cd clips online.

My Space

Ok, I generally hate myspace for blogs because they are not very user friendly etc... But it's a good site to post music, so I'm posting some songs from some of our two live shows that we've played. We also need a band name. Suggestions?

Sufjan Stevens

Ok, so Sufjan is the cool man to listen to. But his new album is really really good. Here are the song titles.

1. Decatur, Or, Round Of Applause For Your Stepmother!
2. To The Workers Of The Rock River Valley Region, I Have An Idea Concerning
3. Come On! Feel The Illinoise!: The World's Columbian Exposition / Carl Sandburg Visits Me In A Dream
4. Concerning The Ufo Sighting Near Highland, Illinois
5. John Wayne Gacy, Jr.
6. The Tallest Man, The Broadest Shoulders Part I: The Great Frontier / Part Ii: Come To Me Only With Playthings Now
7. They Are Night Zombies!! They Are Neighbors!! They Have Come Back From The Dead!! Ahhhhh!
8. Out Of Egypt, Into The Great Laugh Of Mankind, And I Shake The Dirt From My Sandals As I Run
9. Jacksonville
10. One Last Whoo-hoo! For The Pullman
11. Chicago
12. Shirt Reprise For Mary Todd, Who Went Insane, For Very Good Reasons
13. Man Of Metropolis Steals Our Hearts
14. In This Temple, As In The Hearts Of Man, For Whom He Saved The Earth
15. A Conjunction Of Drones Simulating The Way In Which Sufjan Stevens Has An Existential Crisis In The Great Godfrey Maze
16. Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All The Way Out In Bushnell
17. Riffs And Variations On A Single Note For Jelly Roll, Earl Hines, Louis Armstrong, Baby Dodds, And The King Of Swing, To Name A Few
18. Prairie Fire That Wanders About
19. The Predatory Wasp Of The Palisades Is Out To Get Us!
20. The Black Hawk War, Or, How To Demolish An Entire Civilization And Still Feel Good About Yourself In The Morning, Or, We Apologize For The Inconvenience But You're Going To Have To Leave Now, Or I Have Fought The Big Knives And Will Continue To Fight Them
21. The Seer's Tower
22. Casimir Pulaski Day

David's Blog

David had the best story on his blog today and since most of you don't know him and won't read it, I have to post it here.


"Ours the Journey

We took the bus to church on Sunday. It got us there a little late, so we had to sit at the front of the sanctuary on the right side, literal inches away from the liturgist. From this comes one of the worst church-visiting experiences of my life.

Assistant pastor gets up, welcomes everyone, "This is Family Day here at Broadway blah blah ...We want to take a moment and recognize all of our visitors. You are part of our family, too. So if you are visiting this morning, please stand so that we can thank you..." Pause. I'm not usually on board for this whole recognition thing. That, I think, is pretty standard. When you visit a church, you want to check it out, feel out the scene, appreciate and critique with a mask of relative anonymity, at least the first time that you go. Well, this seemed, from the moment that we walked in, to be a great congregation. The people appeared to be warm and inviting, an excellent mixed - in every possible way - crowd. Something inside me said, "Go ahead and stand, David. They all saw you walk in anyway. Your shirt looks nice; your hair is alright. Don't be a wuss. Plus, sometimes they give visitors free stuff and coupons."

So I stood. And Kevin stood. And maybe 7 or 8 other people in the auditorium of about 300 people stood as well. And then, words that made my skin fall off and my heart explode. "Thanks so much for being here with us. Cindy is going to bring around the microphone, and we want you to tell us your name and what brought you to Broadway Church this morning."

Wha?

Since we were seated about 4.7 inches away from Cindy, you can pretty easily guess who got to go first.

"I'm David. We are new to the area," I whispered.

"Welcome," said the people.

"My name is Kevin. We're just visiting," he quivered.

"Welcome," said the people.

********************************************

Fiery induction aside, this was one pretty great church service. The choir was amazing, the pastor was practical, pointed, and easy to connect with. You got a sense that the church is fully involved in the ministry needs and life of its neighborhood. There was a time of prayer requests and prayer. There was a hairy puppet, a man in a tiara, and an invitation to a peace rally. Seperate incidents, those.

And then there was the hymn of dismissal. "Ours the Journey." So great a song, said the pastor, that we must sing all 138 stanzas. (Please remember at this moment that we were sitting in the front of the church sanctuary on the right side, thus facing about 85% of the congregation.) I made it through the better part of stanzas 1, 2, and 3 before beginning to laugh uncontrollably. Heaving, gasping, trying-to-stifle-because-I-know-I-shouldn't-be-laughing laughter. Of course, this type of laughter is not tenable for one individual only, so Kevin caught it too. I want nothing more than to be able to reproduce for you, word for word, the text of this hymn. It is so classic. But I have scoured the internet and cannot find its complete lyrics. I promise that if I ever visit this church again, I will copy down all of the stanzas to this hymn and post them here for your enjoyment.

But for now, here are some highlights, reconstituted from memory:

"We are black, and we are Asian, Hispanic, caucasian too. We, a Rainbow Coalition..." Jesse Jackson would either be so proud or sue for violating his trademark, I think.

"Gays and lesbians together, fighting for equal rights..." Have you ever sung the word "lesbian"? It is not as musical as you might think. Downright uncomfortable for the tounge, actually. Try it.

I have found a few of the stanzas in their entirety posted on the internet, so here they are, followed by the chorus:

"In the midst of new dimensions, in the face of changing ways,
Who will lead the pilgrim peoples wandering their sep'rate ways?

Through the flood of starving peoples, warring factions and despair,
Who will lift the olive branches? Who will light the flame of care?

As we stand a world divided by our own self-seeking schemes,
Grant that we, your global village, might envision wider dreams.

We are man and we are woman, all persuasions, old and young,
Each a gift in your creation, each a love song to be sung.

Should the threats of dire predictions cause us to withdraw in pain,
May your blazing phoenix spirit resurrect the church again.

Chorus:
God of rainbow, fiery pillar, leading where the eagles soar,
We your people, ours the journey now and ever more."

I like most of the ideas behind the song, I think, but (overly simplistic criticism alert!) the song itself deconstructs into something of a ridiculous parody of liberal christendom, embracing everything and nothing at the same time. And something about the act of singing these words, actually letting them leave your mouth, the vocal cords that you control, well, it was a little silly.

So we laughed our way through the second half of the song and then were dismissed. Several people came up and introduced themselves afterwards and made polite, chatty conversation. One really nice guy introduced himself, shook our hands, and then said, "I saw you guys laughing during that last song." How embarrasing. Then, "I remember the first time I sang it, too. It was really funny to me, too. It is kind of an awkward song." Yes, we agreed. Kind of awkward."

Tomorrow At Gone Wired

We are playing a gig tomorrow at Gone Wired Cafe on Michigan Ave. near the Green Door. We go on at 8pm. So come on out and enjoy some music. We are playing before Morgan Stewart this time, who will sing you soothing songs and calm your over achieving, stressed out-coffee stained life. At least for forty five minutes... With us you will get that folk country stuff that you never hear on the radio, except for late night NPR. It will remind you of an America you've never had. It will make you want to shake all the lies off without the feeling of guilt.

Am I promising too much? Maybe. But it will still be good.

New Kitchen

Here's a picture of our new kitchen. Suz and her mom did such a great job.

parable

Noel is one of my favorite teachers ever. He also happens to be my boss and one of my best friends. His teaching this week was really good.

jobs

Suzanne mentioned this on her blog, but I wanted to post also. She is quitting her job, she'll tell more I'm sure. Anyway, if you know of any part-time work, let us know!

Live

We recorded our gig Friday and the recording turned out pretty well, even though I flubbed various lyrics occasionally. Anyway, here are a few of the songs.

Song 1

Song 2

Song 3

one more

Jimi has a good point

Repent of Your Emails

Ok, I've received about three emails and read about ten articles/blogs by Christians who are calling Katrina God's curse on New Orleans. Stop it right now! You are no better than anyone else. God's favor alone is what has given you life, both here and eternally, it is nothing that you have done. Do not bring your piety to the table that needs bread and water and all kind of charity. Yes, there have been times when God has chosen to pour out his justice on a city (this is what we ALL deserve), but like Steve told me, there is nothing in scripture that prophetically forewarned us of New Orleans. How do we decided what tragedies are punishments and what tragedies are just part of life? Are the Christians in Sudan (who are being raped and murdered) being punished because of their sins? Are we being punished because of our gluttony, our gossip, our materialism? Do not bring your piety to the table of children that need bread and water and charity.

Katrina

Thanks to Noel for this link. It's John Piper's response to the question of whether Katrina was of Intelligent Design.

"God does not answer to us. We answer to him. And we have only one answer: “Guilty as charged.” Every mouth is stopped and the whole world is accountable before God. There is only one hope to escape the flood of God’s wrath. It is not the levee of human virtue but the high ground called Calvary. All brokenhearted looters and news analysts and pastors are welcome there."

Compare that to This article about fundamentalist who choose the elitist "levees of human viture" and insist on God's specific judgement of New Orleans.

Best Video ever

right here

Telephone Melts

Telephone Melt is the temporary name of our band that is playing Friday at the crepe shop. We aren't even really a band-just Kristen a singer, me and Ryan who plays mandolin, banjo, guitar, keys and sings. The name is from and album title from recluse singer/songwriter Jandek. So come on out. A friend of ours Morgan Stewart is playing at 8pm and we are playing after her, probably 9pm this friday at Ooh La La Crepes.

Mother-in-law wisdom

It's really cool to see my mom and my in-laws growing so much spiritually. It takes a certain humility and acknowledgement of who God is to be that way. My mother-in-law has had a few really great things that she has said this week. Here's my mother-in-law wisdom:

"sometimes when God uses me I take my 'tithe', my ten-percent of the glory for what He has done."

"Philipians says that we can do all things through Christ who strengthens me-when we look back on our lives how many things have we done that we could only do becuase of Christ. Sometimes we only have enough faith for our own works, we don't believe God."