The tyranny of the aimless youtube and Itune’s a la cart smorgasbord meets its happy demise when you take up the recommendation of a trusted friend or mentor.

I am learning to moderate my “content intake” (reading, listening, watching) by recommendation and the results continue to astound me. Books, films, and music that I never would have uncovered in several lifetimes of random sifting are delivered to me often times with a serious face looking directly into mine,

You have to read this…
You have to listen to this…
You have got to see this…

are now the words I long for when deciding my next investment of finite time.

The latest addition, profound timeliness, The Bosses trip to the dark side of town as recommended by the Redford Cowboy.

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  Darkness on the Edge of Town
  Artist: Bruce Springsteen

Lights out tonight, trouble in the heartland.
Got a head-on collision, smashin in my guts man.
Im caught in a crossfire that I don’t understand.
But there’s one thing I know for sure girl:
I don’t give a damn for the same old played out scenes
I don’t give a damn for just the in-betweens.
Honey I want the heart, I want the soul, I want control right now.

You better listen to me baby:
Talk about a dream; try to make it real.
You wake up in the night with a fear so real.
You spend your life waiting for a moment that just don’t come.
Well don’t waste your time waiting

Badlands you gotta live it every day
Let the broken hearts stand
As the price youve gotta pay
Well keep pushin till it’s understood
And these badlands start treating us good

Workin in the field till you get your back burned
Workin `neath the wheels till you get your facts learned.
Baby I got my facts learned real good right now.
You better get it straight darling:
Poor men wanna be rich, rich men wanna be kings,
And a king aint satisfied till he rules everything.
I wanna go out tonight, I wanna find out what I got.
Now I believe in the love that you gave me.
I believe in the faith that could save me.
I believe in the hope and I pray that some day it
Will raise me above these

Badlands…

For the ones who had a notion, a notion deep inside
That it aint no sin to be glad you’re alive.
I wanna find one face that aint looking through me
I wanna find one place, I wanna spit in the face of these

Badlands…

~Bruce Springsteen, Badlands

Categories: Recommendation, Music
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Oh yeah, what we’re living in (let me tell ya)
It’s a wonder man can eat at all
When things are big that should be small
Who can tell what magic spells we’ll be doing for us
And I’m giving all my love to this world
Only to be told
I can’t see
I can’t breathe
No more will we be
And nothing’s going to change the way we live
Cos’ we can always take but never give
And now that things are changing for the worse,
See, its a crazy world we’re living in
And I just can’t see that half of us immersed in sin
Is all we have to give these -

Futures made of virtual insanity now
Always seem to, be govern’d by this love we have
For useless, twisting, our new technology
Oh, now there is no sound - for we all live underground

And I’m thinking what a mess we’re in
Hard to know where to begin
If I could slip the sickly ties that earthly man has made
And now every mother, can choose the colour
Of her child
That’s not nature’s way
Well that’s what they said yesterday
There’s nothing left to do but pray
I think it’s time I found a new religion
Waoh - it’s so insane
To synthesize another strain
There’s something in these
Futures that we have to be told.

Futures made of virtual insanity - now
Always seem to, be govern’d by this love we have
For useless, twisting, our new technology
Oh, now there is no sound - for we all live underground

Now there is no sound
If we all live underground
And now it’s virtual insanity
Forget your virtual reality
Oh, there’s nothing so bad.
I know yeah

Of this virtual insanity, we’re livin in.
Has got to change, yeah
Things, will never be the same.
And I can’t go on
While we’re livin’ in oh, oh virtual insanity
Oh, this world, has got to change
Cos I just, I just can’t keep going on, it was virtual.
Virtual insanity that we’re livin’ in, that we’re livin’ in
That virtual insanity is what it is

Futures made of virtual insanity - now
Always seem to, be govern’d by this love we have
For useless, twisting, our new technology
Oh, now there is no sound - for we all live underground

Living - Virtual Insanity
Living - Virtual Insanity
Living - Virtual Insanity
Living - Virtual Insanity

Virtual Insanity is what we’re living in

• 
  Travelling Without Moving
  Artist: Jamiroquai

Categories: Technology, Music
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Thanks to a friend of mine’s nimble ticket purchasing mouse clicks myself and several of my best friends were able to take in a show of the “Flight of the Choncords“, if you have never heard of them, just know they are the 4th best band in New Zealand. The humor is understated, self deprecating, and occasionally a bit vulgar… but in more moments than not it slays me.

I laughed, cried, and hit the seat of the poor guy in front of me for the duration of the two hour show. My friends were amused at my enjoyment, and for a moment I paused to consider if I should have laughed at everything that night. Most likely not, but in that moment I was consoled by a reminder of the immediate value of anything that allows us to whimsically forget ourselves and enjoy life.

Could God be more pleased by 5 minutes of our selfless enjoyment of the most trivial activity than 1000 hours of begrudged self conscious community service?

Never forget that when we are dealing with any pleasure in its healthy and normal and satisfying form, we are, in a sense, on the Enemy’s ground. I know we have won many a soul through pleasure. All the same, it is His invention, not ours. He made the pleasures: all our research so far has not enabled us to produce one. All we can do is to encourage the humans to take the pleasures which our Enemy has produced, at times, or in ways, or in degrees, which He has forbidden. Hence we always try to work away from the natural condition of any pleasure to that in which it is least natural, least redolent of its Maker, and least pleasurable.

~The ScrewTape Letters, Chapter 9

• 
  The Screwtape Letters
  Author: C. S. Lewis

Categories: Humor, Music
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I think we’ve figured out this world is bigger than you and I. We’ve exhausted our wealth of knowledge and have no more answers for mankind. We’ve had every conversation in the world about what is right and what has all gone bad, but have I mentioned to you that this is all I am, this is all that I have. I’m not trying to judge you. That’s not my job. I am just a seeker too, in search of God.

Somewhere somehow this subject became taboo. I have no other way to communicate to you. This is all that I am. This is all that I have. I would like to share with you what makes me complete. I don’t claim to have found the Truth, but I know it has found me.

The only thing that isn’t meaningless to me is Jesus Christ and and way he set me free. This is all that I have. This is all that I am.

~Sara Groves, Conversations

• 
  Conversations
  Artist: Sara Groves

Categories: Repentance, Music
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People are often unreasonable, illogical,
and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.

If you are kind, People may accuse you
of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.

If you are successful, you will win some
false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.

If you are honest and frank,
people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.

What you spend years building, someone
could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.

If you find serenity and happiness,
they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.

The good you do today,
people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.

Give the world the best you have,
and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you’ve got anyway.

You see, in the final analysis,
it is between you and God;
It was never between you and them anyway

~Suzzy and Maggie Roche; Anyway… inspired by the poetry of Kent M. keith

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Categories: Poetry, Music
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At the moment of surrender
I’m falling to my knees
I did not notice the passers by
And they did not notice me

I didn’t want to believe it at first, but I think I am finally coming to terms with my feelings. It has happened before, at first its just a bit disorienting and I can’t quite place my first impressions… but then something starts to take hold of me with one song, then another and before long I have to surrender… and it feels real good.

• 
  No Line On The Horizon
  Artist: U2

Categories: Art, Music
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Poetry is words empowered, subjective truth with an objective reality because someone has realized it.

~from “No direction home: Bob Dylan”

Categories: Quotes, Art, Music, Movies
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There are moments when all anxiety and stated toil are becalmed in the infinite leisure and repose of nature.

~Henry David Thoreau

Categories: Travel, The SuperTrip, Music, Movies
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Well, I guess I was about 5, maybe 6, when I first heard “Invisible Touch”. I was at a friends house and we were listing to his tape collection… and I was suddenly grasped by a rapture of drums and vocals like I had never experienced before. I loved the song and I had no idea what it was about. I remember proudly proclaiming to my friends at 6 years old that “Invisible Touch” by Genesis was my favorite song. I bought the tape, I still remember the funky looking graphic design hand on the jacket, and I proceeded to wear it out in my trusty Walkman. Those were the days of complete awesomeness in music… I could just like music… just because; INXS, Bon Jovi, Salt and Pepper, Bruce Springsteen… it did not matter.


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Categories: Relationships, Music
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It does feel good to back in town.

It’s all the little things that happen amongst friends that make life not just bearable… but rather, pretty darn sweet. I know it’s just a concert, but Andy and I have been to three of them now… all of a sudden it’s a tradition. How could you not enjoy an evening of singing along with Paul Revere and getting extra loud when your favorite lyric hits…

The Sun is beating down on my baseball hat

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It’s the haaat part that needs to be especially emphasized. They went ahead and renamed the State Theater to the Fillmore. Someday we will get together and tell stories about seeing concerts there when it was still the State. Europe was a great experience… but regular old life is still pretty grand… (especially when your best friend springs for a set of sold out tickets on e-bay and calls you up)


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Categories: Local Friends, Relationships, Music, General Smatering
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No mercy for the distracted…

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I looked away for 2 seconds, but that was just enough time to have my hours of rubixing completely undone. Paul felt terrible once I explained to him how hard I had worked to get it to the point of complete solution except for the top layer.

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But it was too late, the damage had been done…


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Categories: Rubiks Cube, Relationships, Music
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