The Day She Died by BooBooMonkey


I called you on your birthday
and I could hear it in your voice
The same since that Thursday
When her heart stopped making noise

You're feeling all alone now
You're walking through the night
And it seems your heart has stopped since
the day your mother died

I could hear polite resentment
In each and every word
That you'd only find contentment
If my voice were hers

And nothing can change what's happened
But she'd hate to see you tonight
Because your heart's as hard as stone
Ever since the day she died

The Panasonic: My 1970s Italian Bike

The apothesis of George Washington... So that's what's inside the Capitol dome!

A Capitol Tour

http://www.comcast.net/video/pitango_gelato/1276357273

My pantry, my pride.

Fu-Man-Chu

Eh. Almost.

New Arcade Fire

Listen here.

The Swell Season Show

In-credible!

Alumnus from my school

Chalk Board

My board and camera, shot by Joy Elcock.

Jon Foreman (Switchfoot) and Sean Watkins (Nickel Creek) have been colaborating for a couple years now, and the fruits of their labor are finally hitting stores on January 20th. Click "Listen Now" above to listen to their first single "When She's Near." This project is really exciting!

Review: Fall EP by Jon Foreman

Officially released on Nov., 27 2007, Fall EP is the first of four installments under Lowercase People Records. The three successive EPs will be called Winter (releasing in mid January), Spring, and Summer.

Jon Foreman, also front man of Switchfoot, takes a folky departure from his California rock roots. Each of the six songs on Fall EP are smooth and acoustic (upright bass, piano, guitar, harmonica, bass clarinet, etc.). Very little synthetic here. Just raw Foreman.

The first song "Cure for the Pain" is the most contagious melodically. The second song "Southbound Train" uses harmonica, cello, and background vocals to effectively simulate the feeling of a train. Third, "Lord Save Me from Myself" is a psalm-like tune, among the first real worship tunes that Foreman has been able to write. Similarly, "Equal hands" reflects the minor prophet Micah:

Both hands are skilled in doing evil;
the ruler demands gifts,
the judge accepts bribes,
the powerful dictate what they desire—
they all conspire together (Micah 7:3).

The lyrics to the chorus of the song are:

And both of our hands
Are equally skilled
At doing evil
Equally skilled
At bribing the judges
Equally skilled
At murdering justice
Both of our hands
Both of our hands.

Second to last on the EP, "The Moon is a Magnet" is a cry for love by Foreman, in a strange timing. It is a brilliant 1:54 long song with a bass clarinet. Last, "My Love Goes Free" is a song about lost love, with the refrain: "If you love her, let her go." It is a sad song of lovers leaving lovers, in love.

All in all, Foreman's Fall EP is amazing, lyrically and musically. On top of that, Foreman himself claims that this EP is his least favorite of the four. Exciting things to come!

Check it out for yourself at http://myspace.com/jonforeman

Fall's Upon Us

Beautiful and sad.

3:10 to Yuma

Last Friday I made my way with my buddies to watch a movie at the local theater. I had no expectations, seeing as we were going to just go. After leaving theater, however, I was sure that I had just seen one of my top five favorite movies of all time. What was it? "3:10 to Yuma." Starring in the film were the gladiator and batman, Russel Crowe and Christian Bale. Their performance was phenomenal. Crowe's slick yet sinister character Ben Wade maintains both an element of suspense and comic relief throughout the show.

The movie's success runs much deeper than the cast, however. For a western movie made in 2007, it lacked the all too common modernist approach that westerns tend to have these days (i.e., Once upon a time in Mexico, etc.). 3:10 to Yuma captures true western elements, such as "landscape as a character". Even deeper still, the story is a parable of sorts, communicating a complex underlying message. It probes questions such as: Is there anyone that is too far gone for good? What does a true man look like? What is good? love? Why do we exist?, even. The movie illustrates a man's struggles to correctly answer these questions in the face of the temptation to do what is easy, yet not right; and it also shows the impact of his integrity.

Two thumbs up to Yuma.

View the trailer for 3:10 to Yuma here.

Locks of Love

Colby chopped his hair off for locks of love today. I think that he was receiving threats from the theater department to get it cut. Nonetheless, he looks good. It's been a while since I've seen him look... normal. Welcome to the club, Colbs.

Stealing Colby's Camera

Colby takes better pictures than I do. 

The Brotherhood

Are you tired of the "dating scene?" Do you think it's a waste of time that ends in heartbreak, compromises, and utter dispair? Then you may be interested in the latest Christian guys' single support group, the Brotherhood.
This organization was started by me and a friend of mine who both found dating meaningless. Why can't true love spawn from a true friendship, and not love at first sight? The best way to get to know someone is not by dating them. The fact is, dating is simply "in" according to our culture today. It's cool to date! But how many people have great dating experiences? Not many. Dating should have a purpose. Why do you date? Ask yourself. Go ahead. If your answer is anything but "for the purpose of marriage," then you need to re-evaluate your priorities. The Brotherhood simply calls on men who are not ready for marriage to not dabble in romantic relationships. What's the point? It's a dead end--with deadly consequences many times. And when one is ready, he should not hunt or date around until he finds the "right one." As previously stated, romantic relationships should stem from solid friendships. In order to fully understand the Brotherhood, I have pasted below the Brotherhood's Creed for your reading pleasure:

We believe that it is “good for a man not to touch a woman” (1 Cor. 7:1). We believe that a man should not seek a wife until the age of responsibility (1 Cor. 7:27). We believe that the age of responsibility is not a specific age but a state of maturity wherein a man is prepared in a Biblical sense for the responsibilities of husbandship and future fatherhood. We believe that marriage is a gift of God and is a beautiful picture of the church and Christ and should be held in the highest regard (Eph. 5:23-33). We believe that the single man cares for the things of the Lord without distraction (1Cor. 7:32). We believe that “all men could remain even as we are” (1 Cor. 7:7). We believe in healthy, platonic relationships with women prior to and even after the age of responsibility as long as they are God-glorifying and not an impediment to one’s testimony of Christ. We believe that the purity of man is essential to his sanctification (1 Thess. 4:7). We believe in the excommunication of members of the Brotherhood who are hypocritical and unrepentant (1 Cor. 5:2).

Relient K

Relient K. They are coming up in the world. Once they were immature kids with guitars, and now they have grown into thougtful and talented musicians. They are among my very favorites. Lead singer Matthew Thiessen has written songs that speak so close to home that it's scary. He says that in the Mmmhmmm, there latest album, "there’s a lot about making mistakes, failing, how amazing grace is and picking yourself back up." That's life. Relient K has mastered the art of effectively capturing that in passionate, guitar driven ballads, with graceful piano undertones.
Since there Mmmhmmm project, Relient K has also recored an EP called Apathetic EP. It has several acoustic recordings of songs from the two previous albums, as well as four new tunes. One song is based off the Chronicles of Narnia, "In Like A Lion." It is a great Christmas song, much like "I Celebrate the Day" from their "Deck the Halls, Brusie Your Fist" Christmas album from 2003. "I Celebrate the Day" is one of my personal favorites:

And with this Christmas wish is missed
The point I could convey
If only I could find the words to say to let You know how much You've touched my life
Because here is where You're finding me, in the exact same place as New Year's eve
And from a lack of my persistency
We're less than half as close as I want to be

And the first time
That You opened Your eyes did You realize that You would be my Savior
And the first breath that left Your lips
Did You know that it would change this world forever

And so this Christmas I'll compare the things I felt in prior years
To what this midnight made so clear
That You have come to meet me here

To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me
In the hope that what You did
That you were born so I might live
To look back and think that
This baby would one day save me

And I, I celebrate the day
That You were born to die
So I could one day pray for You to save my life

The perspective Thiessen takes is ingenious--looking at Christ as a babe and wondering if He is aware that He is the Savior. So thought provoking. The song really reminds believers about meaning of Christmas--Christ was born to die, so that I could live. What a paradox. What a truth.