the myriad - a clean shot

here is a video from the myriad's newest cd.

new music: the myriad

so i've been holding onto an itunes gift card since christmas, just unsure about what to spend it on. but when i realized that the myriad's new album had just come out, i decided to go ahead and use it. and i am so glad i did. so glad.

if you are unfamiliar, the myriad is a band from seattle that released a pretty cool little album in 2005 called 'never trust a ladder.' ever since that album i have been looking forward to a follow-up. in the meantime, they were selected as one of 12 finalists out of a pool of 4000 bands for the dew breakout circuit. out of the group of 12 they were voted on by fans and ended up winning the competition this last december. with all of that buzz, they have really begun to generate a following and a great deal of expectations for this new record. they did not disappoint.

the new album is called "with arrows, with poise," and it is really good. just so all my kenny g loving readers out there don't go buy the album, let me be a bit more specific: it is atmospheric and melodic modern rock, a la 'in rainbows" radiohead. i find the music to be above average rock and roll, complete with soaring guitars, beautiful piano, very interesting rhythm work, and song structure that keeps you on your toes. one of the strengths, musically, has got to be the vocals which are clear and confident, like the band is really meaning to say the things they are singing.

and they are serious. that is one of my main first impressions of this album - this band is not messing around. it feels very serious from top to bottom. the lyrics, sober and serious, are not exactly straightforward, and certianly leave you with a great deal of room for interpretation. and this is another thing i love about the myriad: for a band that comes from the "christian" marketplace, they do a great job of not spoonfeeding bad theology in trite phrases. the lyrics point towards hope and truth, but leave room for exploration and discussion. the words seem to invite you into the song, to step inside and spend some time pondering what is being so passionately and seroiusly sung. while you are thinking, the song turns and twists and takes you somewhere you didn't expect, which only serves to beckon you further into the mystery of the song. in the end, you feel like you've been on a very serious journey, one of great import and intense beauty.

if you are like me, tired of most of the candy-sweet fluffy theology that gets passed off as Christian music, then you might like this. check it out on itunes.

grace and peace,
greg.

throwback thursday: striped ball

here is a picture of me at a year old. i am holding a ball, which should have been a clue to my amazing skills as a ball player. if only i had been bigger, stronger, and exponentially more athletic, i'm pretty sure i could have made it in pro ball. oh well, its nurture vs. nature, i guess...

anyway, have a great thursday. live up to your full potential!

grace and peace,
greg.

a blogxperimential memorial day poem

in a few days it will be memorial day, and in my experience, memorial day is one of those "holidays" whose true meaning is rather missed in exchange for something else, in this case cookouts and parties. instead of being about a nice juicy hamburger (which deserves a holiday of its own, no doubt), memorial day is a day to remember those who have died in service to their country. i think, though, rather than only a time to reflect on those individuals, it has also become a day to "remember" how those lives and deaths have contributed to the freedoms and lifestyle many of us enjoy today. for me, anyway, it is a day of remembering; a day of not-taking-everything-for-granted; a day of appreciating.
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and so for this, my 350th post, i thought i'd try a little blogxperiment: i would like us to collaboratively write a memorial day poem. i'm going to start it off with one line, and then i am asking you, my readers, to add a line in the comments section. from time to time i will update the post with the added lines (i've already updated it once - keep writing people!) . i am not aware of this happening anywhere else in the blogosphere (although it could be), so let's break some ground! here are some rules:

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-only one line at a time! (you can post more than one line in the poem, as many as you want actually, but you need to let someone else write before your next turn).

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-keep it respectable (i reserve the right to delete any comments and exclude any lines that i deem inappropriate.)

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-make it your own. that is, don't write what you think looks cool, but write the contribution that YOU have to give to it. the poem, i am hoping, will take on a bit of a life of its own, so interact with the poem itself.

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-anonymous comments are absolutely allowed.

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-don't worry about meter or rhyme, necessarily. again, let it take on a life of its own and see what happens.

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-have fun with it! don't be shy - just write it!

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i am looking forward to what we might end up with. let's see what happens! here goes...

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its one of those one-a-year mondays, and i'm trying to remember

the friend i lost in late november

and the families he and others have left behind

who have fought bravely for our freedom

it's the triangle flag that makes my mom cry

it is all the flags that fly so freely

the red, the white and the blue that stands out

from the cemetery gray of so many tombstones.

a reminder that freedom is not free.

cough drop

kids say the darndest things. they also say the most bizarre things. like my son, who just partially ate a chick pea (garbonzo bean), spit it into his hand and said, "this is like a cough drop wrapped up in a piggy bank!"

alrighty then.

i walk in glory everyday

i took a walk around our home, and i just took some pictures along the way. here they are...

my sunday night

this pretty much sums it up. my stomach is still hurting today (and not from laughing at this scene)