It's a Sox-Cess

It's only been a matter of hours since the White Sox won the World Series and I'm already tired of the Journalistic tag lines used in newspapers, on websites and in broadcast media. Things like "It's a Sox-Cess" and "Sox Sock Houston to win Series" and "Chicago Sox it to Houston"

I don't know...maybe I am traditionalist. Maybe I just like the staright forward headlines. As a journalism student I never was taught that it was ok to use cheesy headline tags. I was taught the traditional way and it's just weird to me to see major city and national papers using such lame tags.

I guess if it were me I would just be bland and have something like, "Sox Sweep Houston to Win World Series." Maybe I'm just dull.


Now if anyone cares here are a few things I've been listening to lately:
REM- "Automatic for the People"
Coldplay - "Parachutes"
Death Cab for Cutie - "The Photo Album"
Rage Against the Machine - "The Battle of Los Angeles"
Ryan Adams - "Love is Hell" Vol I and II
Braid - "Frames and Canvas"
Mineral - "End Serenading"
The Get Up Kids - "On a Wire"

If you are ever bored and need to get excited about something go to Narnia

aww naw, hush that fuss

Rosa Parks, 92, died today. One of the leading women in the Civil Rights movement will be remembered for her pride and her desire to not let anyone believe they were better than she was simply because she was a black woman.



I am currently digging through different chapters of John Piper's Desiring God. Most of his views on money, prayer, suffering and love are pretty amazing and also pretty profound. I'm enjoying chewing my way through this stuff.

I ain't dyin' for no man

Everett now has some new artwork. Maylene and the Sons of Disaster have an album out tomorrow which is going to be a fun, trashy, southern, metal record. If you so desire you can check them out at Purevolume to listen to most of the album.

I never conquer for fear

Last night I went to see the documentary Grizzly Man. It was an experience like no other watching this film. It is the story of Timothy Treadwell, a man who spent 12 summers in the wilderness in Alaska living among the bears and other creature and during the hybernation season he would travel and speak and educate on the needed protection for these animals.

The documnetary incorporates some of the nearly 1,000 hours of footage that Treadwell shot while by himself with footage from the creators to tell this story of his life and efforts. Some of his personal footage shows him in a pretty insane light. He truly thought that he was the only thing that was protecting these bears. He broke many federal and state laws to continue living with them and endured threats from travelers, authorities and nature in this process.

In the end, Treadwell realized that he could no longer take living among humans so he returned to the wilderness just before hybernation and due to lack of food resources for the bears, he and his companion were eaten alive.

Don't worry...I didn't just ruin the movie. This is one of the aspects that becomes known really quickly. I don't know that I'll watch it again, but I am certainly glad that I did get to see it last night.

UT v. UA and AU v. LSU...should be a good weekend

this is the last war

Currently there are things that bother me. Well, truthfully, there are always things that bother me, but now I am going to try to list (and possibly discuss) some of these things.

1) Using the word "Your" in place of "You Are." I'm guessing most people just slip on this. I know (and Robbie knows as well) that I am constantly slipping on things. But for some reason when people write out something like "Your the best friend ever." it really gets at me.

2) While I'm talking about improper usage of the English language I will rip on AOL for a while for pounding it into people's brains that it's ok to say "You've Got..." as in "You've Got Mail" Yeah we've all heard it before and probably use it frequently, but it's so wrong. You don't have got anything. You either have mail or you don't have mail. You don't have got mail.

3) People who drive below the speed limit for extended time. I understand that sometimes people have to be cautious and drive a bit slower, but to ride on the interstate in a 70mph zone and go no faster than 58mph is frustrating to no end. NOw I know that your toyota corolla can at least get up to 70 and I just don't understand how some people don't realize what they're doing.

4) The musical group The Pussycat Dolls. I'm not going any further than to say that they are one of the worst things to happen to music ever.

5) Phillip Fulmer.

6) Hot weather more than half way through October.

7) Reality tv. Especially the new one with Rev. Run from Run DMC



Now for some things I've been enjoying lately:

1) The new Mew Record (and the one before it as well). I've said it before but this is an amazing record.

2) The use of double contractions. For instance my friend uses these from time to time. Things like Mightn't've. It doesn't spell out well, but spoken, it's a perfect form of "Might not have." See also "Shouldn't've" and "Couldn't've"

3) Tetley Tea. With two sugars, a milk and poured from boiling water on an electric kettle, a nice cup of tea is one perfect drink.

4) The new Apple Imac G5 with built-in Isight and a detatchable remote control. Apple just brings it sometimes and when they bring it, they bring it good.

5) The show Lost. Sometimes I think it's starting to get a little goofy, but it's still got me hooked.

6) Any John Coltrane and/or Karate album ever released. Just the music I can't seem to get enough of.

If I didn't have you as my guide

A couple of close calls have come for me this week. The University of Alabama slipped by with a last second field game to win against Ole Miss on Saturday. And last night the Cardinals barely held on in the race for the series when Albert Pujols struck a three-run shot to put the Cards up by one. I have faith though, because the Cards were in this exact same position last year against Houston and ended up winning game seven in St. Louis. If they have any hope to make it to the World Series they have to do the same magic they did last year.

That's all I have for now.

Cut the lights, Kill the music

Sometimes I experience amazing joy in my life. A true joy that surpasses almost anything I've felt before and I wonder why I've been so blessed to have this. Few words can describe it and no one can really get the deep meaning of it across in a song or a book or a movie. It's something that I'm sure most have experienced and can relate, but I wonder sometimes why I can't always feel like this. I wonder what in my life keeps me from being constantly surrounded by this feeling. Then I begin to think of Heaven and God and the true Glory of Christ. I imagine sitting at the feet of a perfect, eternal creator and thinking how much more joy I will contain then. It's hard to think about. A little bit mind blowing at times. I just can't seem to conceptualize the difference between the greatest of all earthly feelings and the surpassing greatness of the feelings of eternity in Heaven.

Tim Keller of Redeemer in New York gave a powerful sermon on eternity with God. It made me realize the surpassing greatness of Christ's love for us and the joy He has awaiting us in Heaven. C.S. Lewis also writes ideas of Heaven in his book The Great Divorce. He describes the pain on earth as petty and of having no consequence. And he paints an amazing picture when he explains that if you take all of the miseries, the lust, the pain, the anger and the spite of hell and compare it to the least of the joy in Heaven that it would be no bigger than a piece of dust. It would have no weight, not measure to fully stack up to the wonderful glory that awaits those who love Christ as their own.

I'm not quite sure where all of this came from, but after having experienced some of the strongest feelings of joy in my life recently I can hardly be anything less than blown away to imagine what God has in store for His children who love with the heart of Christ and who live a patient and serving life on earth.

"But God made the earth by his power; he founded the world by his wisdom and stretched out the heavens by his understanding"
Jeremiah 10:12

We've calmed ourselves with store-bought dreams

The St. Louis Cardinals took Game 1 against the Houston Astros last night winning 5-2. Chris Carpenter had a nice outting and Isringhausen gave a good scare in the 9th inning giving up two runs, but closed out the game in traditional Cardinal fashion.

Some controversy is taking place right now over the call made last night by the home plate umpire in the Angels v. White Sox game. I like the White Sox, but I really feel that the Angels got the short end of the stick with a confusing call by a confused man in blue. I just don't see how you can call a man out on strikes and then allow him to be safe at first after the catcher had already left the playing field. So the series is now tied 1-1 as the games move to CA.

I'm excited to see how the ALCS comes out. I would like to see the Sox in the series but I'm more afraid of the Cardinals facing them than I am the Angels.

If anyone has any good suggestions of good new (or old) music and movies, please let me know. My brain needs to be stimulated.

make it a round of boilermakers

I was lucky enough to see My Morning Jacket this past Saturday night at City Hall in Nashville. Hands down, they are one of the best live rock shows I've ever seen. The music was flawless, the energy was great and the singer's voice was perfect. Plus I think this was the first time that I've seen a band come back to stage for an encore and play five songs. That was great.

I've also been enjoying a record by a band called Hammock. The music is mostly instrumental and sounds, at times, a lot like Sigur Ros. Speaking of Sigur Ros, you should go to the media section of their website and have a look at the new video. It's quite amazing.

Also, the new Mew record is out. It is one of the best records I've heard in a long time. As a friend put it, "every other band should listen to this album and realize that they are really just shit."

I think that may be the only way to describe it.

If time permits in your day you should check out The Militia Group website and under artists look at the photo of the band The Class of 98. The Picture was taken by yours truly and I'm quite pleased with how the shots turned out.

I mean burn your bra....feminist.

Sometimes I think back to the time in my life when I was 7 years old. An age when I first truly formed an understanding of the love of God and that He sent His son Jesus to die for my sins. There was never a question in my mind that this wasn't the most real thing. In the 18 years since then the true root of my faith has never changed. I've never denied God and everytime I've slipped away from Him I found myself running back to him and allowing him to embrace me with his love. But since then things have seemed to become more difficult. Like I have to try to do so much more and understand so much more for my faith in God to be valid. I feel that I have to figure things out in my head and read books to help futher my understanding of God.

I've recently given up. I mean I still like to read books and do good things and be kind and loving and merciful to people. I still feel the need to make things complicated and confusing and frustrating. But before all of that I need to again gain the mindset I had when I was 7 years old in my bedroom of the two-story house on East Glenwood Drive when I first understood God. I need to sit still and rest with an honest peace in my heart that I believe in and serve a sovereign and loving God. And for nothing else to be pleased and take delight in knowing that He is God.

The big man that I am

Gas prices recently dropped, then rose again to approximately $3 in Tennessee. This is just absolutely rediculous. The prices are affecting everything..especially the economy, because many consumers are curbing typical spending habits as a result of the high prices.


To something more positive...
The Saint Louis Cardinals took game 1 over the San Diego Padres. It's good to see Reggie Sanders back, especially when he hits grand slams. Thrusday at 3:00 they will meet again in the final days of current Busch Stadium. Let's they get out of this series as soon as possible.







"Focus your heart not on what is seen, but what is unseen, because what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

I'm not an ambi-turner

The University of Alabama Crimson Tide shocked us all. Now understand that I had full confidence that they could and would win Saturday's match up with the Florida Gators, but I had no clue the amount of pressure the Tide's defense would put on them. They held them to three points. The first time since 1992 that Florida has been held without a touchdown. I'm very impressed with how the team played as a whole. I am a bit upset that we will be without Prothro for the duration of the season, but I'm confident that Hall and some of the other, younger receivers will step up and start making some awesome plays. They have the week off so hopefully they will spend some time getting everyone ready to play again like they're the No. 7 team in the nation.

Another shock came when Vanderbilt lost to MTSU after a potential game-winning field goal was blocked by an MTSU defender. Vandy sure did blow a good streak.

Now baseball is getting really exciting. The Cards at the Padres (that's Spanish for the fathers) The Yankees at the Angels and the big debate of who will win the AL MVP: A Rod or Ortiz?

Two good shows are coming up this week in Nashville. Thursday is Jonezetta and the Myriad at The End and Saturday is My Morning Jacket at City Hall. Both promise to be amazing shows.