Bearfruit

I think I’ve blogged about this before but this group is so good, you really need to get this CD - Klazz Brothers and Cuba Percussion: Classic Meets Cuba. You can get it at the iTunes store as well.

The group created a mix of classical songs with a cuban style. Check out Cuban Dance, Mambozart and Air for some of my favorites, though the whole disk is good (a rarity).

Also, if you watched the movie “Surf’s Up” and wondered what that song is at the end of the movie that left you with a warm fuzzy feeling for the rest of the evening, it’s You Get What You Give by the “New Radicals” (link is to the amazon MP3). I think they’re a one-hit-wonder so don’t be surprised if you’ve not heard of them. I bought the CD at the used music store for $5 and wish I’d just bought this one song since its the only thing on the album I like.

Good news, Real Rhapsody now supports Linux. I’m trying their 14 day free trial now and it works perfectly. They don’t say they support Ubuntu but it worked without a hitch. There is a small (500k) plugin for firefox, then the music just plays in a small browser window.

So long status quo. I think I just let go.
Interesting events have conspired since my last blog post. The concept of meritocracy has popped into my head several times. Last night, while talking to my brother, who is a Jr. in high school, I was explaining what it meant. Shortly thereafter, our dad reminded us that we had to go to an award ceremony for Nate and the other students who lettered for academic achievement.

It feels good to be out of control: There’s a big debate as to wither music is amoral. I have some opinions, but this blog is not about that debate. It is certain that some music is not amoral (is that a double negative?). The easiest way to tell is to listen to the lyrics. If the song is about hate, is vulgar, is violent, talks explicitly about sex, you can be sure it has a moral view point contrary to Biblical teaching. Unfortunately, many people don’t listen to the lyrics.

Free Music Rocks - when I’m buying music I’m usually so cautious. When there’s actual money at stake I wait and think and ponder and then often take the “safe route.” But when people give me music gift-certificates or I win a free song from a pepsi bottle I usually buy something impulsive. Sometimes I really enjoy what I get, sometimes I don’t, but it’s nice to have the freedom to be impulsive.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe Oh yeah, how can I forget? One of the best things about the new StarWars movie is that there was a trailer for the Narnia movie series starting December 9th.

This is an opportunity for Disney to redeem itself. I certainly hope they do a good job. They’ve given it a good budget and a good director, so things look hopeful.

I can’t wait to see the debates that arise from this picture.

Opening weekend for StarWars, Episode III - this means that we can expect many StarWars analogies at Church in the upcoming weeks.

Interestingly, while watching the new StarWars movie I realized that Jedi’s usually depart with the farewell, “May the force be with you.” I’m assuming that is a friendly farewell. What would they say if they were leaving someone whom they were hostile to? My guess is, “May the force walk away from you and say, ‘talk to the hand.’”

X 2005 - Christian Rock Hits! Coming to stores 3/29/05… can’t wait. [alt link]

Daffodil Lament
For some reason, I like saying the word “daffodil” lately. I don’t know why, though. It might because I recenly heard the song “Daffodil Lament” by the Cranberries, or maybe it’s because I seem to be getting a bunch of SPAM advertising some drug called “Tadafalil” or something like that. When you get a song stuck in your head, listening to a new song will help you forget it, but how do you get a word out of your head?

Gizmodo: “DRM makes data less valuable.” I’m happy to pay for my free music. I like iTunes, but the problem is, you are restricted on how/when/where you can listen to your music if you buy from the iTunes store. When I said “free” above, I mean free as in speech. I think if we like a service or product, we should say so with our wallets. I have absolutely no problems buying music, but I prefer to do so using CDs because it allows me to listen to the songs anywhere I want.