Top 25 Albums

I was just trying to figure out what my top 25 albums are, based on all the stats I have collected from my iTunes library and the influence the albums have had on me.

It’s interesting to note that not a single album is by a female artist.  I guess they just don’t really do it for me.  Best I can think of off the top of my head is Fiona Apple or Lauryn Hill, and maybe a few other Christian artists.

Anyways, here it is, in no particular order:

1. Michael Jackson – Thriller

2. Radiohead – OK Computer

3. Death Cab For Cutie – Plans

4. Sufjan Stevens – Illinois

5. Bright Eyes – I’m Wide Awake It’s Morning

6. U2 – The Joshua Tree

7. Dave Matthews Band – The Central Park Concert

8. Ben Folds – Ben Folds Live

9. Nirvana – Nevermind

10. Snoop Doggy Dogg – Doggystyle

11. Radiohead – Kid A

12. Stevie Ray Vaughan – Texas Flood

13. The Oscar Peterson Trio – Night Train

14. The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness

15. Dream Theater – Live Scenes From New York

16. Switchfoot – Nothing is Sound

17. Nirvana – MTV Unplugged in New York

18. Jimmy Eat World – Bleed American

19. Manic Street Preachers – Everything Must Go

20. Pixies – Waves of Mutilation

21. Guns ‘N Roses – Appetite for Destruction

22. The Verve – Urban Hymns

23. The Doors – The Doors

24. Mute Math – Mute Math

25. Muse – Origin of Symmetry

This list is by no means definitive.  It’s just the top 25 I can think of right now.

Greater things are still to be done

So last night I went and worshipped God Almighty with Bluetree and Vicky Beeching and some friends.

Without getting too much into how attractive of a Godly woman Vicky Beeching is, as I have just said last week that I will stop with the blonde British thing (talk about a woman who fits that category though!), I have gotta say that it was a night of real conviction and wake up call(s).

For the whole night, while screaming out lyrics that have touched my heart for the past 2 weeks, and getting real excited watching a keyboard player (Ian Jordan is his name) who actually has stuff to play other than some boring ol’ Christian pads (love the little synth lead riff in “God’s Plan”, and of course the piano bit to “God in this City”), I couldn’t stop thinking about how “sluggish” (this word came to mind) of a Christian I am.

I’m a coward in so many ways.

So many things are holding me back.  Yet I go on and sing songs on Sundays like “My Chains are Gone” or “Freedom Reigns”.

And so I got very……disturbed when I sang along to “God of this City”.

“Greater things are yet to come, and greater things are still to be done in this city…” are the words.

How am I even part of that?  I kept questioning myself.

And then my iPod died (who would’ve thought iPods ACTUALLY die?  I thought only people on online forums have theirs die), and then I got my first ever speeding ticket on my way home.

What a night.

Several application points that came out of the night:

- Ordered the book “God, Marriage, and Family: Rebuilding the Biblical Foundation”, as Mark Driscoll highly recommended it in his Peasant Princess talks.  Very excited about this.  Gonna be the book to read with my accountability buddy.

- Fasting for 40 days starting sometime next week with my buddy.  We have decided though that instead of the traditional fasting FROM things, we are going to fast TO DO things.  Because we are not content on just being a sinner on vacation for 40 days.  Some of the things include journaling, reading the Word daily, meeting weekly, the whole works, etc.

- I am going to look into volunteering at some place like the Covenant House or Union Gospel Mission in downtown.  Something like that, where I’d get to actually see face to face some of the street kids and what not.  I am tired of serving and serving and serving and yet never stepping outside of the 4 walls of “church”……and then singing songs like “Multiply Your Love” and then doing nothing about it.

That’s about it for now.  Take care.

Bearer of bad news

Do you personally have collections of songs that you once really really liked, but because during that spell of listening to them something horrible happened to your life, you can no longer go back because it would bring back the horrible feelings every time?  As in, you have developed some sort of an aversion to the songs psychologically.

I have a good number of those, and I mean they are great songs but I can never sit through them anymore.

Interestingly enough, a good chunk of those songs are in fact Hillsong United songs.  I think I had a horrible time in 2nd or was it 3rd year.

I bring this up because the past week I have been listening to that Rosie Thomas song for about 5, 10 times a day, I just really love it, but I am also not exactly too happy with things right now and I worry that I might never be able to go back to the song the same way.

Church Music

Church music is really such a strange, strange ministry.

It just seems to me that in most other ministries, only people who are particularly gifted in that specific area actually get appointed to serve.

But somehow, in so many places and events I have been to, church music becomes one of those little ministries where as long as you have the heart, you can become a part of the team.

Of course, I do know of churches like Willingdon where only those who have gone through some pretty intense auditions actually get to be a part of the band, but at most places it isn’t like that.

You see, lots of us can play music – myself included – but I really believe that there’s a big difference between mere music players and actual musicians.

I have had my fair share of playing time with some talented people, and I have to say, there’s a big difference between people like me who can perhaps play some stuff that I have heard before, and actual musicians who breath and live music.

If worship is about giving our best to God then why aren’t Christians taking our music (since we always refer to it as worship) more seriously?

There is this hilarious quote I got from a young Christian the other day.

We were jamming at his place and then we went on youTube to check out some cool videos of MuteMath.  And then, he says this: “They are really good, you know, especially when you consider the fact that they are Christians”. (or a different and perhaps better translation is: “As Christians, these guys are actually pretty good.”)

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Bits and Parts

I am really feeling indifferent about the Starfield concert.  Their first, largely acoustic album was ace, second was a nice change of sound, but their third and latest one feels like an album past its expiry date.  It feels like an album that had to be made for them to continue being relatively successful.  If I want to listen to the tired radio rock riffs, I might as well throw on some Foo Fighters or something.  With all this said, they have never failed to entertain in live shows, as my friend SJW pointed out.

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It’s the Champions League final but I am not that excited at all because football has become a joke, really.  Where are the real football teams like Ajax of ‘95?

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The Whitecaps are going to revamp the BC Place and use it as our temporary home, with the hopes of securing a bid in catching the heated wave of MLS expansion.  Good news but also bad news as this means any plans to build the Waterfront stadium can easily be pushed back.

Luckily I get to catch our home game against the Seattle Sounders this coming Friday! 

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I want to move away from Richmond because it’s no longer the little suburban town I was so fond of as a kid (I suppose anywhere South of where I live still is) but a place filled with, well, stupid places.

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I don’t usually talk about cars but I want one of those Audi R8s after seeing Iron Man.

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I want to play in a band.

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I have discovered The Smashing Pumpkins, only about a decade and a half late.

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I really like Ben Gibbard and Conor Oberst and really wish there were Christian musicians who can write songs like them.  Is Sufjan Stevens the only one?

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I just watched “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”.  It was funny, cute, and the last little bit at the wedding when the dad finally came around really touched my heart.  Yes, the meaning of life is indeed to get married and have lots of kids.

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I don’t really want to go back to Vancouver.  But neither do I want to stay here right now.