As an amature photographer and a volunteer for church activities, I usually try to make photo slideshow CD ROMs of various church youth activities. There is an option when I do make these CDs to put background music while the slideshow plays. That being the case, I always try to keep my ears out for good music. I’ve added to my ever growing list of positive songs. Here are some of them.

• The Guess Who – “Share the Land” – What an awesome song that no one knows. You’ll remember The Guess Who as the band who sang “American Woman” which Lenny Kravitz later covered. “Share the Land” has some cryptic lyrics like “Maybe I’ll be there to share the land; that they’ll be givin’ away; when we all live together…”
• Alphaville – “Forever Young” – This song is featured in a Saturn Ion car commercial – “Now Leaving High School…” It’s got some good lyrics to it, yet it’s got that silly technopop European sound. If they redid it acoustically, it would probably sound better.
• Bruce Springsteen – “The Rising” – Bruce has a strong heavy voice that really carries the song. However not enough people know this one for it to be relavent in today’s world.
• Jars of Clay – “Flood” – Great song. Located somewhere on the music charts between “Rock” and “Contemporary Christian.” Lyrics could be taken Biblically.
• U2 – “Beautiful Day” – The lyrics make no sense at all. But the chorus is pretty positive.
• Smashmouth – “Why Can’t We Be Friends” – Originally done by War, Smashmouth made it better (some would likely disagree with me on that).
• Beatles – “In My Life” – I’m sorry to admit that I hadn’t heard this song until just a few years ago. What a great song.
• Guns ‘N Roses – “Sweet Child of Mine” – good song, however it probably wouldn’t work well, especially with the hard guitar riffs.
• Go Go’s – “Vacation” – I heard this on a Johnny Knoxville episode. Kinda good song. I’m ashamed to admit this. I just might be a Go Go’s fan.
• The White Stripes – “We’re Going to Be Friends” – This would be a good song for an end of the year elementary school graduation slideshow.
• John Lennon – “Instant Karma” – I don’t necessarily agree with the karma philosophy of this song; however I really like the “We all shine on…” chorus.
• Joe Cocker – “With a Little Help from my Friends” – You’ve heard this song in the opening of the Wonder Years TV show. The Beatles did this originally, but Joe made it better. I don’t really care for the “Get high with a little help from my friends” lyric, but the way Joe sings it, it is undistinguishable.
• Better Than Ezra – “Good” – One of the more positive songs from a great band that no one knows.
• The Strokes – “Someday” I heard this song on an MTV promo. Great song. The singer’s voice is kinda distorted which makes it difficult to distinguish what he’s singing about.
• Electric Light Orchestra – “Mr. Blue Sky” – As heard on the Volkswagen convertable commerical. The downside is that probably not very many people have heard of this.
• Spacehog – “In the Meantime” – The radio stations played this song way too much when it first came out. Made Spacehog a one hit wonder. Still, it’s a good song when you really listen to it.
• Israel Kamakawiwo’ole – “Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World” – It was in the movie, Meet Joe Black. Never heard of the artist. But the performance of Over the Rainbow is extraordinary.

There are many more songs which I could add to this list. But I won’t bother adding to them right now. Maybe later on…

I watched Billy Corgan and his new band, “Zwan” on Letterman Thursday night. Something seemed off. Seemed like a halfhearted performance. That’s all. Maybe the new band members just aren’t used to performing live with each other. Or maybe the song “Honestly” is just hard to play live.
There is talk that Zwan’s songs are more spiritual in nature compared to the doldrums of Smashing Pumpkins. Check out this MTV article about it.
Learning alot from the Covers Project. Lone Justice originally did Tom Petty’s “Ways to be Wicked.” He wrote it for them. However on his Playback box set, you can tell he did it better. Made it his own.
You can usually tell how establish an artist is by the number of bands that has covered their songs. For example, the Goo Goo Dolls show 19 covers done themselves. However only 3 artists have covered Goo material.
“Goo Material?” Isn’t that the stuff you find on the orange end of an Elmer’s bottle?
Meanwhile I did get a cool cover of Cracker’s “Sick of Goodbyes” as done by Sparklehorse. Cracker is one of the most underappreciated bands out there. Ask a kid these days “Have you heard of Cracker?” They’ll think you are talking about that lame Uncle Kracker.
Do yourself a favor and go out and get Cracker’s album “Kerosene Hat.”
Falling out of a plane in Shanghai.
Group says CBS’s The Real Beverly Hillbillies pushes rural stereotypes.
Tennessee Sports Fan Closes all but its Opry Mills locations. Is this a case for too much expansion too fast? I take interest in this story since I have friends and family who used to work at this store.
The Race to Kill Kazaa.

The Mt. Juliet Chronicle has been strangely silent on the issue of the gun enthusiast minister. 2 weeks now and they still haven’t addressed the story which was big enough to make the Tennessean and AP wires. Methinks their editor might have ties to the church and doesn’t like reporting negative stories about it.
Then there’s the absence of any official word on the Green Hill website ( greenhillchurch.com ). Basically nothing has been changed on it. What a great tool the internet could be, if it was updated once and a while. Instead of fielding questions about how the church feels about their minister, they could put some statement up on the website which would occupy the media’s attention for a while.
I put Soul Asylum’s CD, “Let Your Dim Light Shine,” in my CD Rom drive. Winamp’s automatic album online query system says that it is a Goldfinger album. Never heard of them. Apparently the time stamps on the tracks match the Goldfinger album.
I must really be stuck in the mid-90s musicwise. Soul Asylum, Gin Blossoms, Wallflowers, Better than Ezra, Oasis…they’re all favorite bands of mine.
I’m staring at the July 2002 edition of the Christian Chronicle. Self described as “an international newspaper for members of churches of Christ.” The caption of a clothing giveaway picture says “Give it away, give it away, give it away now.” I wonder if the editors realize they’re quoting the band, Red Hot Chili Peppers. I guess that song has become so mainstream that it’s lyrics have moved into religious publications. From watching VH1’s Behind the Music, I’d imagine this publication would not want to endorse a band like this with crazy antics.
Appalachian Bible college is fighting to change its 666 phone number prefix.
Newsflash. The Tennessee Sports Fan has stopped selling stuff online. You’ll have to go to the store in person to buy any of their merchandise. This is a far cry from the dot com boom of the late 1990s.
Arnold Schwarzenegger is suing for $20 million over a thumbnail sized picture used in an auto advertisement. The ad violated Arnold’s “self-imposed ban on appearing in commercials in the United States.” Apparently Arnold doesn’t have any ban on appearing in overseas advertisements. I personally have an advertisement of him promoting a personal tape recorder. I picked it up in China. The ad is in Chinese, but clearly shows Arnold on the front of it. Hmmm….I wonder if it is worth anything since Arnold doesn’t do ads in the USA?
More pics are up on Todd’s webpage. Done by me thankyouverymuch. Todd seemed enthusiastic about it. Let me emphasize those are cream soda bottles!!!! Not what you were thinking….

The snow is falling right now. Snow is covering everything. Nashville drivers don’t know how to drive in the snow. That, coupled with a limited number of salt trucks makes driving in the snow dangereous.
Schools are closing early. Initually when I got up this morning, there was no snow. Schools continued to be on the normal schedule. Somehow I knew that teachers weren’t getting anything done because the kids were so hyped up on the potential snow.
But then again, I’m of the opinion that they shouldn’t close schools unless they actually see snow. Too many times schools have closed because they “think” it’s going to snow.
Church Gets a Restraining Order Against Gun Enthusiast Minister. (WKRN News 2 Real Video)
I found a good song by The White Stripes. “We’re Going to Be Friends.” Great song. It’d be good for an elementary school end-of-the-year slideshow. (Melissa, are you listening???) The White Stripes are so dynamic musically. From “Fell in Love with a Girl” to “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” and now “We’re Going to Be Friends.” What a great group.

” There is a lot of great music; you’ve just gotta do a lot more work to find it. I think the White Stripes are kind of exciting and fresh.”
–Tom Petty, CDNow Interview, October 2002

I had a conversation with a radio DJ friend of mine last night. As it turns out Lightning 100’s format is considered “Adult Album Alternative,” while 102.9 The Buzz is considered “Modern Rock.” There’s a difference there. Lightning 100 plays indie songs you’ll never hear on mainstream. There is a rare exception when a song like Train’s “Meet Virginia” somehow gets picked up by 107.5 the River and gets Top 40 airplay. Lightning 100 was playing “Meet Virginia” first.
VW Convertable Commerical (in Quicktime Video) featuring the song “Mr. Blue Sky.” This is the best commerical I’ve seen all year. It’s one of those you don’t know exactly what they’re advertising, but you can relate to it. All those same work days where nothing ever changes.
I downloaded and installed the latest verison of AOL Instant Messenger. Bad idea. Anytime I try to add a buddy to the list, the program locks up on me. Guess it must not be compatible with Win2K. Time to downgrade.

Among U2’s songs on their greatest album of the ’90s, Achtung Baby, is “Mysterious Ways” and “Even Better Than the Real Thing.” Both are the strongest rock on the album and perhaps some of the strongest that year. At the time I really preferred EBTTRT to MW. Even’s whirl of guitars and breakthrough video was superior at the time. However I’ve found that “Mysterious Ways” has much more lasting power. Its hard hitting cords give it much more universal appeal toward today’s listeners. It is not unusual to hear it played on the local “hits” station. While on the other hand, I have not heard “Even Better Than the Real Thing” played for a long time.
This discussion was brought along because I’ve had a chance to really listen to U2’s Best of 1990-2000. I think it was released prematurely. The Best of 1980-1990 wasn’t released until 1998, therefore the Best of 1990-2000 should have been released in 2008. We haven’t had a chance to let the music from 2000’s “All that You Can’t Leave Behind” to really sink in. Certainly “Beautiful Day” belonged on the “Best of” album. But perhaps other sings like “Peace on Earth” and “Elevation” should have been included also.
I have been putting together a webpage for a Christian camp. Volunteer work. I don’t mind doing it. I believe in the purpose of the camp. The only problem is that person who originally put together the webpage used Dreamweaver, a program I do not have. Some of the buttons on the page use the Flash plug-in, rather than a jpeg or gif file. I can’t seem to figure out how to link to a certain page in Flash. I suspect the specific link is embedded in the Flash file. Blame it on me never really understanding the public’s interest in Flash. That being the case, I’ll have to do one of two things. Either send the page back to the person who originally did it….or redo the page using gifs and javascript mouseovers instead.
Its been interesting to say the least. During the past couple of weeks 3 people have contacted me about webdesign work. I think if I ever did web design for a living, I would learn to hate it. Right now its just for fun. If it was work, the fun would have been taking out of it. Most people could learn how to do web design just like I learned it. Sit down and figure it out. Webdesign jobs come and go. Its either the hot thing or none at all….which is why I don’t want to put all my faith into it. It’s fickle.

Job fair tomorrow at Nashville Tech. Somewhat anxious about it since this might be the chance I have for a job. I hope I make a good impression. But then again I’ve been told I sell myself short. I’m not good about talking about myself. I’ve been told all along not to brag about myself. Now when I’m supposed to be looking for a job, I have to talk about my accomplishments and everything. When I’ve been trained to do one thing, and then be told to do the complete opposite, it is difficult to adjust.
Bought 2 CDs today: The Wallflowers – Red Letter Days and U2’s The Best of 1990-2000. Some thoughts:
The Wallflowers’ version of “Everybody Out of the Water” is really different than the one I originally heard before the album was released. I’m not sure if I like the album version. Usually I could count on the Wallflowers not to be vulgar in their lyrics. Yet this song which I enjoyed listening to has one curse word in it.
U2’s Album contains a pletora of remixed hits. One of the better versions is the one of Numb. Instead of Bono’s falsetto voice thoughout, he actually sings normally, which sounds much better and improves the overall song.
I’ve discovered a really good U2 song – “The First Time.” Lyrics are here. Good song with alot of Biblical references. I had forgotten it was on “Zooropa.” It doesn’t really belong on there amongst all the techno songs.
As far as U2’s albums, I have just about every official release from “The Joshua Tree” onward. “Rattle and Hum” and “Achtung Baby” are some of their greatest work. “Zooropa” was a lesser album. “Pop” was my least favorite U2 album. I couldn’t find a song on that album which I really liked. It was very refreshing to have a really good album – “All that You Can’t Leave Behind,” which really put more soul back into the group. Less techno; more rock.
Wednesday night class was good tonight. At least some of the kids listened and made some really good comments. Unfortunately my brain was zapped for some reason, so I wasn’t able to me worthy comments in class. Sometimes I will want to say something, but the teacher in charge will move on so quickly, I won’t be able to comment. Like I said, some of the kids listened. The side of the room I was on, there were a few boys who seemed to whisper throughout class. I knew they were distracted when they brought in the Gameboy to class. Why would you bring a Gameboy to church? But we did put away the computer toys and get started with class.

Darrell seems to think that this whole weblog is about my rantings. I don’t think I rant all the time, do I? Its just whenever he visits this page, I am probably expressing some strong opinion on something which he misconstrues as ranting.
That being said, let me rant about something for a moment. Cardboard CD packaging. I bought 2 CDs yesterday. Tom Petty’s “The Last DJ” and the Gin Blossoms’ “New Miserable Experience – Deluxe Edition.” Both came in those crappy environmentally-friendly cardboard packaging. I want my CDs in plastic cases, thank you very much. Plastic cases don’t wear out over time. Cardboard degrades. You can’t hope to keep it new looking at all. So more than likely I’ll probably put these CDs in some extra plastic cases I have lying around and make a feeble attempt to save the cardboard cases for posterity later on.
Some friends from church emailed me from Wyoming. Seems they’ve run into Ethan Eades out there in Cody. Ethan had moved there from Scottsville. Small world. But then again I guess all of the church of Christ people know each other through someone. It’s that theory of 7 degrees of separation.

I was out Saturday night with some friends from college. After dinner at the Cooker, we went to a used CD store – the Great Escape. There wasn’t much significance with that, except I did see a Lipscomb alumnus working out there. I was sorta surprised, since I was reasonably sure this guy graduated. And now he’s working retail. (Putting that diploma to work) Well, maybe he’s like me and in between jobs. I have considered getting a job at Computer Renaissance (local small computer retail store). But I probably won’t unless I get really bored.
From the “My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad” Files: Caroline Kennedy and Sergei Khrushchev Meet. Enough with the commemorative stuff about the Cuban Missle Crisis. We’ve had enough already.
Newsweek has dug up the Kurt Cobain’s Diaries When I first heard of Nirvana….around ’91 or ’92, I didn’t really care for their music. Kurt had a certain rural twang to his voice which I couldn’t take. Much of it left a bad taste in my mouth. There was something wrong with having a naked baby on the cover of “Nevermind” (which is why I never bought the album). “In Utero,” their last album was meant to offend. And at times it offended me.
But since Kurt’s death, I learned to like them, especially their unplugged performance….calm, peaceful…. “You Know You’re Right,” the last song recorded by the band, was just released to radio stations. Apparently Courtney Love must have dug it out of her attic. That song is great…strong….driving rock song. Much to the point. It’s amazing that the music is just as relevant as it is today as it was then. You still hear Nirvana songs being played on the radio. Let’s see….in 1991, “U Can’t Touch This” by MC Hammer was big. Do you ever hear Hammer music on the radio anymore? Nirvana had staying power that other music just can’t claim.
What I don’t like is people making Kurt out to be some type of rock god. He wasn’t. He was a leading change agent in music of the ’90s and beyond. But he wasn’t a god; he was just in the right place at the right time. But then he squandered it by giving in to a life of drugs and booze. What could have been will never be answered. We keep asking the same thing in regards to Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Shannon Hoon (Blind Melon), etc…
At the risk of sounding sappy, I enjoy church on Sundays. Going there reminds me that there are people there who truly like me and want me around. Sure, there are plenty of people who just go to feel good about themselves (late to arrive; leave early before the closing prayer). But then there are the “real” people who stay a long time afterwards….and are genuinely concerned for you.
Speaking of prayers, I did the opening prayer for the PM service on Sunday. Kevin Bass had me convinced afterwards that I said “Thank you for the sick,” a well known potential mess up which I’ve had a fear of since my early middle school years. But then he told me he had just been joking with me. I just let the words flow, not sure of what I had said exactly. I, like most people, have the problem when praying of asking God for things, without actually giving Him the praise He deserves. Praise vs. Petition. Too much petition these days. Not enough praise.

Kids, if you don’t know who the Rolling Stones are, ask your parents. I’ve discovered “Don’t Stop,” their latest single from their greatest hits album. Nice rock song. Reminds me of “Start Me Up,” which was used in those Microsoft commericals not too long ago. I would take the Stones over the Beatles any day. Definitely the edgier rock band.
I’m looking forward to 3 albums which are coming out this fall. These include:

• Gin Blossoms – New Miserable Experience – Collector’s Edition. It’s got a special 2nd disc with rarities and other live tracks.
• Tom Petty – The Last DJ. Tom Petty has been a favorite performer of mine since I heard his Greatest Hits album. I’ll be getting this album soon
• The Wallflowers – Red Letter Days. I’ve heard a couple of songs from this album. Definitely worth purchasing. Hopefully it will get some radio airplay and the Wallflowers will get the attention they deserve

Finally got some Bible lesson books for the Wednesday night class I help teach at church. My sister was looking over it. As a teacher, she judged it to be good curriculum. I’m just glad to have a book. We discussed the end of the world (as in Matt. 24) tonight in class. It was a very difficult concept for the class of 11 and 12 year olds to grasp. Somehow I think we could have better topics. These are deep subjects that the high schoolers don’t even touch.
And I haven’t even started on that youth pictorial directory for church. I finally have enough of the kids’ pictures to have something to go on. I guess I will use Microsoft Publisher to put it together. I definitely want to get something done and have it out by Thanksgiving or even earlier.

Reality has set in. I have no job. Well actually I still getting paid for the next 60 days, but my days at Nortel will be gradually drawing to a close. What went wrong? Was it due to my manager not having a clue as to what I did? Was I not kissing up enough? Could I not market myself….make myself look good? Who knows.
It’s a good opportunity for me to move on. I’m going to take a long look at my life and see where I want to go from here. Who knows? Maybe I’ll switch careers. I usually come back from church camp wanting to be a youth minister. Maybe I should do that. But then again the salary for youth ministry is just not there, so I’ll probably just nix that idea. All I want is a job that is fulfilling and gives me time off during the summer. Probably something having to do with computers since I am familiar with that type of field.
I meant to post this list yesterday, but between being laid off and the 9/11 anniversary I forgot….
Songs that remind me of September 11th:

• “Land of Confusion” – Genesis….Someone really needs to remake this song. I know it was done during the 80s when Reagan was in office. Who could forget the video with the puppets depecting world leaders?
• “Head Like a Hole” – Nine Inch Nails This should definitely be the offical song of the war on terrorism. Lyrics like “Bow down to the one you serve…. You’re going to get what you deserve…” remind me of those Islamic Extremists who say “Praise Allah” each time a terrorist attack happens.
• “New York, New York” – Ryan Adams The video for this song was filmed on September 7th with the World Trade Center featured promenently in the background.
• “I Won’t Back Down” – Tom Petty Petty sang this at the Concert for America. Seemed like the lyrics to the song was a rallying cry for us.
• “In America” – Charlie Daniels They played this song on the radio the next morning on September 12th, 2001. I know that it was probably meant for the Iranian hostage crisis. But the lyrics are just a true as it was then as it is today.

Yes, I do listen to a wide diversity of music. Everything from Nine Inch Nails to Charlie Daniels…..