You may have noticed the slight drop in the frequency of my writings. I have been having major writer’s block. Twitter is partly to blame since it is great for putting out thoughts, impressions, ideas in a quick sort of way so as a result my blog has suffered. Furthermore I have spent more time on Twitter lately finding folks to follow and reading what they have to say that I have not bothered to write.
I can not say that I have really suffered from writer’s block in the past since usually I have had blog ideas saved up and so when I run out of ideas I put my saved ones out there. That is how the last two-parter about The Music That Made Me came about. I had been sitting on that one for a while.
I am at a point now where I feel I have said all I could say about most of the subjects that interest me. By now everyone knows that I am a Trekkie, love Macs, distrust the federal government, hate taxes, bought a new car, have 4 cats, listen to Christian artists only, consider Back to the Future my favorite movie, and have a particular disdain for MySpace.
So I want you, my readers (if there are still any of you left), to help break my writer’s block curse. What’s something you have always wanted to know about me? Leave a comment letting me know what it is and I will write a blog post about it. It can be something simple like “why don’t you own a dog?” or something grandiose such as “Do you believe God has placed a specific call on your life and if so what is it?” It can even be about a habit of mine that annoys you; I promise not to be offended. Now to keep things fair, you can not use either of the two questions I mentioned above. They have to be original. But if you really want to know the answer to either then let me know I suppose I can try and answer them.
So help a brother out. Leave a comment and get me out of the writer’s block funk (that sounds like a song title).
In 2000, I was 21 years old. 2000 was an eventful year. First of all Y2K turned out to be a bust (as I knew it would). 2000 is also the year I married Lyndsay. Finally 2000 was the year I stopped listening to secular music. By the way, would 2000 be considered the first year of the 21st century or the last year of the 20th century?
About two months before Lyndsay and I were to be wed (June 25) I had a God moment. In my vocabulary a God moment is one of those times when, regardless of how certain or uncertain you have been in the past about God speaking to you, you know without a shadow of a doubt He is telling you something and you simply can not ignore the fact. I will not run down all of the details but at this point in my life I was extremely down. I was living in Milledgeville (a town I hated) attending a university (that I also grew to hate). Furthermore Lyndsay was an hour and a half away in Warner Robins.
Since being converted in 1999 or so (no, I do not know the exact date) I had discovered Christian music (besides DC Talk) and had begun to listen to it in conjunction with secular music. I would jam out to some Smashing Pumpkins, follow it up with a little Smalltown Poets and finish it all off with Our Lady Peace. But during spring semester 2000 at Georgia College & State University I was hearing God say something that I never wanted to hear but I knew needed to happen.
At the time I had been playing with a Christian band called Mordecai’s Courage and I had already dedicated my music ability to the Lord vowing that I would never play for any reason but Him. But there in my dorm room in 2000 I knew He was taking it to another level: “Turn away from listening to secular music.” As I prayed I began to imagine never listening to the Pumpkins, or Zepplin, or Metallica, or Aerosmith, or Radiohead, or the Beatles ever again. It seemed crazy. How could I turn my back on the music and art that I loved? As I said before, the fact that God was speaking to me was undeniable. I knew right then that if I decided against doing so that I would be walking in disobediance.
Let me pause to say that God does not call every Christian to this. There is a reason for it. Since I was a child music has always played a large part of my life. I form memories as well as moods around music. Certain songs can create deep emotional responses for me. The music I had so loved was important to me because I drew a large part of my identity from it. I still categorize phases and times in my life by the music I listened to at the time. And at that time the music I listened to was quite melancholy at best and nihilistic at worst and I believe that it affected my behavior negatively. However to turn away from the music I had listened to (some of it from my youth) would, in my mind, mean throwing away memories and experiences.
But I did it.
I called Lyndsay to tell her what I was doing. Though music was not as much a part of her as it was for me, she decided to do the same. From that day forward we have not listened to secular music (well, unless you want to count 40’s big band instrumentals which we have on record).
Christian Music Only: The Beginning of Birth Pangs
After the first two weeks I realized that I was not going to be able to get by on Skillet alone. Eventually I embraced more and more Christian groups like Newsboys, PFR, the Supertones, etc. But inevitably I would grow tired of them and long for something different. Something more off the beaten path.
My first exposure to a band that was more than a little out of sync with CCM was when my friend Lance turned me on to Denison Marrs. Their offbeat melancholy shoegazer style and interesting writing caught my attention. In a way they reminded me of the Smashing Pumpkins, though this guy was a much better singer than Billy Corgan, who does the best imitation of a buzzsaw I’ve ever heard. Soon thereafter God gave me a new source of music discovery in the Christian music video channel TVU. Through TVU I discovered a lot of mediocre bands. But I also discovered some real gems, some diamonds in the rough. The first band I saw on TVU that really made an impact was Spoken. I saw the video for their song “Promise” which at first I did not like. When their next album “Last Chance to Breathe” was released I checked it out and ended up purchasing it. The Elms are another favorite that I discovered around this time. Their stripped-down blue collar rock was simple and raw.
During this time I began to scour the internet for new groups. I was able to discover new artists by checking out the bands that were on the same label as or toured with some of the artists I had already discovered. My love for Dead Poetic, The Afters, Spoken, Andy Osenga,Forever Changed,Edison Glass, and the like came about through this type of research. And no, these artists do not always right songs that could double as praise and worship songs but there is an obvious worldview that is like mine expressed in their music and lyrics. And I have come to the place where any time I hear modern rock music I can not help but notice how much more creative “my bands” are. In my opinion, if I went back to listening to secular music there would be few bands who would sound like what I would want to hear.
Finding good bands that have a Christian outlook can be difficult but rest assured there are some artists out there doing some very creative things. In the last year or so I have discovered (or in some cases re-discovered) Ever Stays Red, Starflyer 59, Andrew Peterson, Turn Off the Stars, Future of Forestry, Seabird,and probably a few others I’m forgetting. So if you are yearning for some new music, head to iTunes or Google and begin looking up some of these great artists and pretty soon you will begin to find all kinds of artists you might not have otherwise found.
“Ye men of Israel, hear these words; Jesus of Nazareth, a man approved of God among you by miracles and wonders and signs, which God did by him in the midst of you, as ye yourselves also know: Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain: Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.
For David speaketh concerning him, ‘I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved: Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption. Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.’
Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day. Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne.”
My tastes in music are wide and varied. I enjoy well-written piano alt rock as well as a crunchy metal song. At times I can go for high-voiced emo and other days some hard rock with a few screams thrown in for good measure. Then there are days when I just want to hear some weird shoegazing or electronic music.
I have always been this way. When I was a kid in Eastman, GA there was a radio station called 99WAYS that broadcasted out of Macon. Years later the station switched to an oldies format. But back when I remember it, they played modern rock and pop hits. My mom always had the station on when we were in the car. In most cases we lived in the country and so a trip to town would give us a lot of time to hear songs on the radio. Also Eastman had a public manmade lake and on days when we would go swimming my mother would either bring a radio or play the radio from her car. This must have been where I heard most of the music of that era because sometimes I will hear an old song and think of swimming.
Since it was the late 80’s the station played plenty of hair band ballads as well as pop and new wave. It was during this time on 99WAYS that I discovered music by Huey Lewis, John Mellancamp (known then as John Cougar), Flock of Seagulls, Men At Work, Tears for Fears, Mr. Mister, and the Police. I also heard songs by rock bands such as Whitesnake, Slaughter, the Scorpions, and Def Leppard. Usually 99WAYS played their ballads.
Around the time I was in the fifth grade (circa 1990), thanks to a friend of mine, I became interested in rap music. Now there was no gangsta rap. Rap music was still playful and fun. I enjoyed the Fresh Prince, MC Hammer, Young MC, Tone Loc, and yes, Vanilla Ice.
This was a short-lived phase for me because by this time 99WAYS had switched to their oldies format and my mother had changed over to listening to another Macon station, Q106. Q106 was pure rock all the way. Classic, contemporary, hard rock, pop rock, blues, everything. From Q106 I discovered Rush, Lynard Skynard, the Allman Brothers, REO Speedwagon, more Def Leppard, Black Sabbath, Van Halen and some foreign group called Led Zepplin. I literally remember thinking “jeez, every other song they play on here is by this Led Zepplin.” Little did I know that they were rock pioneers. The first time I finally heard Stairway to Heaven my first utterance was “wow.”
We never had cable that often growing up. But at one point we did and that meant MTV. How many remember the image of the astronaut on the moon planting an MTV flag? You’re humming the guitar riff that went with it now aren’t you? Remember MTV News? Downtown Julie Brown? Remote Control?
With MTV it was as if I went from drinking from a musical fountain to a musical firehose. I discovered all types of new music and, better yet, I could see them in action! That’s when I saw a video that would change the direction of my life. The video was for the song called “Sweet Child o’ Mine” by Guns n’ Roses. “Whoa! What’s with the guitar player with the top hat and all the hair? Man, he can really play!”
It was not long before Guns n’ Roses took the hallowed position of “Josh’s Favorite Band.” I wanted to be just like Slash. I wanted to play like him, I wanted a guitar like him, and I wanted to write music like him. About the time of G n’ R’s double album release, Use Your Illusion I and II, I decided to learn to play the guitar.
It also helped that my stepfather at the time was a guitar player. He knew many of the classic riffs that I had been hearing on Q106 and a few of the newer ones that I had heard on MTV. He helped my mother buy a guitar for me and began teaching me the licks he knew. The very first riff I could play on guitar smoothly was “Smoke on the Water.” After learning a few chords I could play “Sweet Home Alabama.” I was hooked. I loved playing guitar.
The Alternative Years
By the time I was in high school grunge and alternative music had taken over. Tough womanizing lead singers were replaced by guys singing about being sad. What they were sad about never seemed to be answered. The guys in the bands were no longer pretty poster boys but were, frankly, kind of ugly. They dressed slouchy and wrote songs that were real and transparent.
I, along with the rest of the rock-loving community, was swept away with the 90’s musical revolution and the Seattle sound. Def Leppard, Ted Nugent, Van Halen, and even Guns n’ Roses no longer mattered to me. Instead I was hooked on Pearl Jam, Soundgarden, Alice In Chains, and of course the Smashing Pumpkins. I first heard the Smashing Pumpkins late one night when I fell asleep with the television on. I woke up to an eerie sound. Realizing it was the music coming from the TV I looked up. The video was for the song “Cherub Rock.” The vocal melody was haunting and the riff (though now it seems simple) was different than anything I had heard. Before long I gave a listen to the entire Pumpkins album. The album “Siamese Dream” caused Gn’R to topple and fall from their pedastal. The Smashing Pumpkins took their place. At one time I knew how to play most, if not all, of Smashing Pumpkins’ songs.
Throughout high school and my first two years of college I listened to alternative and grunge almost exclusively. I also dabbled in metal being a fan of Tool, Helmet, Megadeth, and of course Metallica.
From new wave to hard rock, grunge to metal, the foundations of my musical tastes and musical personality were indeednwide and varied. In Part II I will explain how these artists have affected my current tastes and playing style and also how adding Jesus to the mix brought another revolution in my life.
I am working on a post that will be up in the next couple of days about the music that has shaped my personality, my playing style and my music tastes. But for now here is a video one of my absolute favorites. The band is called Ever Stays Red and they have what I describe as a neo-New Wave sound. I know that is redundant but even though it is pure modern rock and synths do not play a heavy role in their sound, there is a somewhat new wave flair about them especially with the upper range voice of singer Dustin Carlson. So enjoy “Can’t Explain” and I will get this next post whipped up, edited, and posted soon.
If you enjoy this song you will love their album “On The Brink of It All”
I was just watching the President give a press conference about the stimulus package. One thing he said stood out to me among all the rhetoric. He said that part of the purpose of this package is to “help” banks (read: take over banks) to be able to loan money for autos and homes at affordable interest rates.
I wish that the President was a Smoak House reader. That way I could tell him that when the economy is down so are interest rates. I learned that in…hmmm, let’s see….Economics 101 in college. And that was at Macon State College. Obama attended Harvard!
Furthermore I would like to tell him that last week, during a recession, without his stimulus package I bought this brand new 2009 car…
Look, Ma! No Government Aid!
…and I financed it for five years at an interest rate of 5%. Not bad for the good ol’ free market, eh?
This quote by Ronald Reagan has been trumpeted far and wide but I feel I must remind you of it:
“Government is not the solution to our problems. Government is the problem.”
Sometimes you just see things in life and you think to yourself “that’s not right!”
Several nights ago it was getting on in the evening and I was unusually tired. It had been a busy day as well as a busy evening. I decided to lay down on the bed for a few minutes. I mean, it was to be bed time before long anyway and so I wanted to wind down.
Well, of course I dozed off. The last thing I remembered was Lyndsay working on some clothes or something in the room at the same time I was dozing off. I do not know how much time passed but I heard a sound. It was a clicking sound followed by a high pitched whirring sound. Then I heard…a giggle. I was laying on my stomach so I raised my head and turned to find Lyndsay holding our camera and trying not to lose all self-control to laughter. The following is the result of that camera flash.
I thought I should just go ahead and put this out there and clear the air in case anyone ever found it and tried to use it as blackmail.
My 1997 Saturn finally threw in the towel, kicked the bucket, bought the farm, went to that big car lot in the sky. After 207,000 miles the old boy decided he could go no longer. This past Saturday morning the Saturn called it quits…in the middle of I-75 South. But what can I say, it served me well. I always said that I would drive it until it died and that day has come. I feel that I have gotten more than my money’s worth out of that car and now I am looking to replace it.
This brings me to my next point. I hate car shopping. Well, not “hate” but it stresses me out. I know plenty about cars. I understand them and when a car runs good and when it is a lemon, for the most part. And even though I am no fan of price negotiation, the Internet has greatly increased the level of competition and it is not hard to find a fair price.
No, for me it goes back to what that wise sage Tom Petty once said: “The waiting is the hardest part.” Not only do I have to go to the bank and find out the amount that my credit (and current interest rates) will allow me to borrow. Next I have to find the right car in the right color with the right mileage at the right price. Even with the Internet that can be a feat.
Lyndsay and I have decided that price-wise, style-wise, and feature-wise, the Chevy Cobalt is for us. Well, that is unless we find a killer deal on a VW Jetta, which probably will not happen. But the Cobalt has a great style and is really roomy and it’s made in America!.
So even though I wish I could just go out, buy one, and be done with it, I know that my little adventure is just beginning.
Last year I discovered P.G. Wodehouse’s wonderful stories of Jeeves, the valet, and the humorous dim-witted gentleman he serves named Bertie Wooster. Not long thereafter Lyndsay and I found that some years ago there was a British television series called “Jeeves and Wooster.” The part of Jeeves was played by Stephen Frye and the role of Wooster was played wonderfully by one of my favorite actors, Hugh Laurie (”House, MD”).
Here is one of my favorite scenes from the show. It depicts one of the many times Bertie gets Jeeves to help him fill out a song he is trying to sing. If you enjoy it, you can get “Jeeves and Wooster” DVD’s from Netflix. You should really check out the show.
In August 2001, former President George W. Bush used the presidential Executive Order to restrict federal funding for embryonic stem cell research. Today (March 9, 2009) President Obama issued a presidential tag-back with an Executive Order of his own reversing Bush’s Executive Order. Sounds like the White House has its very own nanny-nanny-boo-boo going on.
Why does this story stir up in me the inclination to march around Washington with a sign reading “HAVE YOU ACTUALLY HEARD OF THE 10TH AMENDMENT?” If the First Amendment is the most important amendment (which I think it is) then the Tenth Amendment is a close second:
The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people.
This wonderful statement basically means the Constitution has told all involved with the government of the United states of America exactly what is required of them. And if there is still any doubt or if any issue arises which the Constitution does not address then let the states or the people decide.
No where does the Constitution give the President or Congress the right to make laws concerning scientific research (there is also no clause giving government the right to even fund scientific research but that is a discussion for another day). And since the appropriation of federal funds concerns the use of taxpayer dollars then the people should be allowed to vote on the issue.
The issue could be stated on the ballot simply: Allow taxpayer dollars to be appropriated to embryonic stem cell research–yes or no. Voting yes means you are fine with it and voting no means that you do not want your dollars used that way. Count the votes, problem solved, constitutionally. Or if they like it can be on a state by state basis. The same ballot mentioned above may be used in this scenario as well. If a state passes the bill then taxpayer dollars from citizens from that state may be used for embryonic stem cell research funding. If another state does not pass the bill then monies from taxpayers in that state may not be used.
Instead we see President Obama and even former President Bush using the tyrannical and unconstitutional Executive Order which allows a president to be king for a day. A president may issue an Executive Order which must be carried out the same as a law and to which there is usually no Congressional resistance. If it smells like a monarchy…
This issue, along with abortion and gay marriage, should not be decided by politicians or presidents or even self-righteous judges. These federal bodies have no jurisdiction or authority in the Constitution to decide such matters. These and many other issues should be decided by the states or the people.
Politicians, for all their heartstring-plucking, We-the-People rhetoric, do not seem to know much about the most important “We the People” amendment, the Tenth Amendment.
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