Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

Tubular Bells

Thursday, February 8th, 2018

I got bored with podcasts on today’s route, so I fired up Music on my iPhone, browsed the Artists list a bit, and bumped into Mike Oldfield’s Tubular Bells. The recording on my phone came from a dusty old album I’ve had for decades; I digitized it about 15 years ago, and probably haven’t listened to it for five years or more. Listening to it again brought back some great memories…

If anybody knows the music, it’s most likely because the intro on Side 1 was used on the soundtrack for The Exorcist, but there is much more to the album than that. I was introduced to it back in the ’70’s when one of my older siblings bought the album; I’d lay on the floor in the living room with headphones on, plugged into the old SoundDesign stereo, reading and listening… Over and over again. It wasn’t until years later that I learned of the connection between the album and the movie, but that didn’t make me love the music any more or less; it’s a fantastic piece with or without the acclaim it received through the popularity of the movie.

One of the coolest facts about Tubular Bells is that Mike Oldfield played nearly every instrument that was used in the album. He was 19 years old when it was recorded. Which means he must’ve been 16 or 17 when he wrote the piece. Pretty amazing.

If you haven’t heard Tubular Bells, have a listen; it’s worth your time!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXvtDm820zI

Say What Again!

Friday, June 22nd, 2012

This is pretty awesome, and at times hilarious; a movie song remix using footage and audio from Pulp Fiction. I envy the Pogo’s video editing skills terribly.

(WARNING: Contains profanity, as should be expected since it does come from Pulp Fiction.)


Link to Video

Can’t say that the music is my cup of tea, but I do enjoy me some Pulp Fiction.

Voting Democrat Is Bad For You

Saturday, January 16th, 2010

I’ve known for a long time that voting Democrat is a bad idea for the country, but didn’t realize that doing so would have a negative impact on health, but now there’s a study to prove it: Voting Democrat Causes Cancer. In this first map, red indicates an area with high cancer rates and blue indicates low ones.

Hoven_electoral_cancer_1

The distribution on that map looks a bit familiar, kinda like… This one that shows counties that voted Democrat in blue and Republican in red in the 2008 election.

countymapnonlinr1024

Very similar distribution. There’s got to be some causality there. Right?

No, the correlation displayed here and in the linked article shouldn’t be taken too seriously. Nor should other obviously biased studies that attempt to make ridiculous connections. Unfortunately, people believe them anyway.

It was my sin that held him there…

Sunday, May 24th, 2009

We’re in Kentucky this weekend, and attended a great worship service earlier today. We drove down last Wednesday (16 hours!) to witness Bryce’s graduation from Army Basic Training on Friday, but decided to stick around for the weekend because this is such a neat place. To me Kentucky is kinda like the Black Hills, only stretched out over a larger area, and the hills flattened out a bit. Lots of touristey things to do and multiple-days worth of gorgeous scenery to take in. I could stay a lot longer, but I’d probably want to leave when the temps start climbing as the summer progresses.

Since it was Sunday, we went along with friend to the church he & his family attend, and it was an awesome time. The church itself — Southeast Christian Church in Louisville — is amazing in its scale, with weekend attendance topping 15,000, a 100 acre campus, and a 9,300 seat worship center. They also have a youth complex that’s bigger than most churches I’ve attended, and a youth outreach program that is to be envied, and I’m sure is imitated in a lot of places.

They do church well at Southeast. The worship leaders were top-notch singers, and it was evident that considerable time, thought & prayer was put into the music selection to tie in with the sermon. Communion was served at Southeast today, and the song that was sung while the elements were passed — How Deep The Father’s Love For Us — moved me deeply, as that song usually does.

The song’s lyrics talk about the great sacrifice God made on our behalf, while we were still sinners. “That he should give His only Son, To make a wretch His treasure.” I did nothing to deserve God’s mercy and his love, but he extends them to me, and to all; His gifts are there for the taking, but take (or accept) we must or they can’t be ours, for He will not force those gifts on us.

Here is a recording of that song by Fernando Ortega, one of my favorite artists, and the lyrics below that.

How Deep the Fathers Love for Us – Fernando Ortega
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Chingon Rocks Mariachi!

Saturday, February 21st, 2009

One of my favorite movies is The Bride by Quentin Tarantino. You might know the film better by the name Kill Bill 1 & 2. Yes, I know it was released as two movies separated by a couple of years, but I think it’s better to think of it as one story with a really long intermission in the middle.

I found the set of two dvd’s at a store just recently, and just finished watching the second installment… What a cool movie! It’s a little on the bloody side, and the F-bomb gets dropped an inordinate number of times, but it’s a great story of a mother’s love, and revenge. If you haven’t seen it, and can stand a bit of blood and swearing, I’d highly recommend it.

In the Special Features of the second disk is a music video from the group Chingon that was taped at the premiere of Kill Bill 2, and I absolutely love that music. I have no idea what the lyrics mean — they’re all in Spanish — but just listening to the guitars is really amazing. I do know that the second song, Fideo del Oeste translates roughly to “Mexican Spaghetti Western”.

Anyway, just thought I’d share the music. I ripped the tunes from the dvd and have them in my iTunes faves, so I listen to them pretty regularly; hit play on the YouTube videos below to have a listen for yourself. And in case you’re a little on the squeamish side, I promise, no blood is spilled. Enjoy!


YouTube link


YouTube link

Erik Mongrain

Saturday, June 9th, 2007

Emily just told me about this guy tonight, and he’s pretty amazing. Erik uses a very unconventional method to play guitar, and ends up with a very unique sound… Kind of a mix between a guitar, a hammered dulcimer, and a drum. Yet much more than that. Watch the videos linked below & see what you think.

AirTap
PercussienFa

Or you can check him out on YouTube.

The Revelation Song

Monday, February 26th, 2007

The Worship Team at Central has done this song a number of times, and it gets me right there every time. I’ve never been able to find much about it online; I figured that it had been recorded & was on CD. Not that I could find anyway.

Last time it was used in a worship service I recorded it three different times, but each recording has some little glitch with it, but I love listening to it anyway. Laura Wick did an awesome job on it (but then again I think I’d enjoy anything she sang.)

Today they did it again, and had the lyrics on the screen, along with the name of the songwriter — Jennie Lee Riddle.

Turns out I’m not the only one that’s been touched by this song; she’s got quite a following. Don Moen has even included her on one of his CD’s, which is available through iTunes. Jennie’s church, Gateway Church in Dallas, TX, has quite a worship music ministry, and produces & sells their own CD’s — and books — online. I’ve already bought the Don Moen version on iTunes, but will probably buy the Gateway CD — Living For You — to help support the ministry.

But in truth, I think I prefer the Central worship team’s performance!