Music is my boyfriend

Thanks to Lifehacker, I've recently come across two great music websites:

Songza, the so called "music search engine and internet jukebox" lets you search by artist or by song, and then lets you listen (free of charge) to whatever comes up. I haven't thoroughly tested the site yet, but it comes up with a decent amount of results for the searches that I've done.

Then there's The Hype Machine which tracks music blog discussions. Specifically, it pulls out posts about music, accompanied by song tracks, and compiles them all in one place. It tends to tap the music blogs that are more centered around indie/non-pop music, so its a good place to find new artists/songs.

In other news, by a random stroke of luck I won two tickets to see the John Butler Trio perform at the Orpheum this past Sunday... and they were absolutely amazing!!! John is one of the most talented guitarists that I've seen in a while. His lyrics and song writing skills are phenomenal as well, and I'm just sad that I've only started listening to him now. I highly recommend listening to some of his music.
(pictures to follow)

Pushing Imaginary Buttons

Wednesday night I had the absolute pleasure of seeing Sia in concert @ the Paradise. For those of you who haven't heard of Sia, she used to be the lead vocalist for Zero 7, an band that Zach Braff used for some soundtracks. One of her singles, "Breathe Me," was also used for the series finale of "Six Feet Under." Anyway, Sia's performance was amazing. Not only is she an amazing songwriter, but she also has a lot talent as a singer and great stage presence. I really enjoyed her set - I think I knew all of the songs except for 2, which is interesting because I really only started listening to her a few weeks ago. Haha, but I think listening to her performance on kcrw.com really got her songs in my head... I think she performed the exact same set list, plus a few other songs. One of the other songs that she performed was "Destiny," which was awesome because it is one of my favorite Zero 7 songs.

So Sia and her band started the set with this great up-tempo, makes-you-wanna-dance song called "Buttons." It addition to the amazingness of the song, all of the performers started off the show wearing these hilarious/creative neon-tape, stick-figure costumes. You really have to see it to appreciate it, so here's a little video from the end of that song. Buttons If you listen closely, I do believe that I am the first person to "wooo!" at the end of the song. I was a little excited, sue me.

Here's a video of her performance of Breath Me. (Also one of my favorites)

*Aside: I'm pretty sure I know who was took these videos, he was standing a little infront and to the left of me*

I hope she comes back to Boston soon :)

From someone with more genius than I

Because my friend's awesome, check out http://www.triggerimages.net/thriller/

I need to be a part of this some year...

For your reading pleasure...

I happened across an article that I thought was interesting. I'm not sure how I feel about everything in this article, but on the whole, I'm with you Tony.

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Friday, October 26, 2007

The Catchy Name is Catching On (by Tony Campolo)

The name "Red Letter Christians" is catching on! Increasingly within the Christian community (and even in the general public), people are becoming aware of the growing number of us who are basically evangelical in our theology but who shy away from designating ourselves as "evangelicals." They know us to be Christians with a high view of scripture, who affirm the doctrines of the Apostles' Creed, and who believe that salvation comes from surrendering our hearts, minds, and souls to the resurrected Christ — but are reluctant to call ourselves evangelicals. They realize that is because the label "evangelical" has come to be almost synonymous with the "Religious Right." While holding to the same theology as evangelicals, we do not want to be known as being anti-gay, anti-environment, pro-war, anti-feminist, and pro-gun — all of which have been pinned on all evangelicals (perhaps unjustly) by the secular media.

There are critics who do not like our name, nor agree with our progressive social agenda. In the October issue of Christianity Today, there was an editorial in which the columnist explained what he thought was wrong with becoming Red Letter Christians. What was interesting in his critique was that he got us right! He grasped what we were all about – and with great effectiveness. First of all, he described us as people who, when we go to the voting booth, ask whether or not a candidate's tax policies serve the interests of the rich to the detriment of the poor, whether or not there should be policies to stop global warming, and if he or she supports Bush's war policies. See what I mean? He understands us perfectly! They are exactly the kind of questions we believe Red Letter Christians should be asking when they vote.

The second criticism leveled at us in that CT editorial was that by calling ourselves Red Letter Christians, we were giving priority to the words of Jesus, suggesting that what he taught makes earlier teachings in scripture secondary, if not inferior. Again, he has us right!

We believe that the Sermon on the Mount presents a morality that is superior to the justice proposed by Moses. But then, Jesus himself said as much. He is the one who said that while Moses allowed for divorce and remarriage that he had a higher law, and that while the retributive justice of the Hebrew Testament proposed "an eye for an eye" and "a tooth for a tooth," that his new commandment was to love our enemies and overcome evil with good.

Surely, the CT columnist does not intend to put the purity codes of Moses, with all of their kosher regulations, on par with the morality of the red letters in the Bible.

I think we're on to something, and it may be soon that those evangelicals who do not want to be lumped together with Religious Right ideologies soon will be adopting this new name. There is a growing number of evangelicals who, when they find out what we're all about, will say, "That's what we think, too!"

Tony Campolo is founder of the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education (EAPE) and professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University.

(from God's Politics - http://blog.beliefnet.com/godspolitics/2007/10/the-catchy-name-is-catching-on.html)