Idaho

Thursday, March 4th 4:05 PM, Coeur d'Alene Idaho.

This week Gretchen and I got work off and are visiting her Grandparents in Post Falls, Idaho, which is right between Coeur d'Alene, Idaho and Spokane, Washington. It's really nice here. Back in Portland I live in the city, and drive through downtown to go to work, and hit rush hour a lot. Being out here makes me want to escape, spend time away by myself, and not live in the city anymore.

The thing is, I am not sure that is such a good idea. A part of me wants to a own a plot of land near a city but not too close. Hide away from people all the time. Enjoy relaxing in the wilderness. Call friends once in awhile when I need them. But I don't think those are necessarily healthy feelings. Sure, they are not totally bad desires. But I think most people (me included) are better of involved in community, being helped by others and helping others... I am not sure that I like this idea, but I guess I think it's right...

going to start blogging again

Top 15 albums of 2009 - cliche time

This includes 7", EPs, or full lengths. And no, I am not cool enough to know EVERY album released, there are 5-20 bands I like that I never got around to really.

15. Owen - New Leaves

14. Modest Mouse - No One's First and Your'e Next EP

13. Ruiner - Hell is Empty

12. Converge - Axe to Fall

11. Such Gold - Stand Tall EP

10. The Avett Brothers - I and Love and You

9. mewithoutYou - It's All Crazy!...

8. Defeater - Lost Ground

7. Thursday - Common Existence

6. Strike Anywhere - Iron Front

5. United Nations - S/T

4. Bon Iver - Blood Bank

3. Brand New - Daisy

2. Touche Amore - ...To the Beach of a Dead Horse

1. Title Fight - The Last Thing You Forget

Some thoughts on 2009 releases:

Set Your Goals' new full length had a few catchy songs but with melodic hardcore/pop-punk bands like Such Gold and Title Fight around there is no excuse to listen to lesser pop-punk bands like SYG...August Burns Red new release Constellations is the same old Christian metalcore, but fun to listen to on occasion...Two Tongues' (Saves the Day/Say Anything) first release was disappointing but for the first song, but what should I expect without a solid release from Saves the day in 9 years...Paint it Black's 7" was good, but really just more of the same for them...mewithoutYou's release had some catchy songs but overall it was easily their worst release...After hearing the Avett Brothers new album in the mall for the third time it really started to fade on me...Touche Amore is the most exciting west coast hardcore band currently...I enjoyed Bon Iver's slight departure from the over-the-top falsetto on some of the songs...Strike Anywhere cannot release a bad album...Defeater's 7" improved upon their full length Travels... The Converge/Thursday hybrid band United Nations was slightly better than either releases by Converge or Thursday this year.

DISCLAIMER IF READING OLDER BLOG POSTS

God is doing so much good in my life write down I feel like it would be stupid to not write some of it down to share.

But any posts older than this may not reflect me now. I was thinking about deleting them, but God is about processes not just products. So if 1-2 years ago I thought posting Modern Life is War and Alkaline Trio lyrics was the best way to express myself then, well then that's where I was then. I am excited to write more on this, and would appreciate people responding to it. I hope it starts some dialogue about Jesus if possible.
Andrew

life

Life has been pretty good the last 3-ish months since writing. Been working Valet again, which I am fine with for now as I figure out what's coming next / apply for jobs.

Bands I have been listening to: Gorilla Biscuits, Ruiner, TOUCHE AMORE (album of the year?), AFI, Title Fight, Orchid, Crime in Stereo. Good stuff. I love music. I went to the Bridge 9 tour and Crime in Stereo was great. I may drive to California in December to see Title Fight and Touche Amore.

Blah. I have nothing to write about right now.

My life recently (May - August)

In May my wife and I graduated from college. I have been doing construction over the summer, she worked some and studied for her N-CLEX test to become a registered nurse - and passed! Then we went to Morocco from July 15th - August 5th. We have been back 11 days, which honestly seems like 3-4 weeks for some reason. I was really sick, I mean REALLY sick from Morocco and have not gone back to work, but am planning on it tomorrow. Now our life is less focused on planning for our trip but more on finding "career" jobs and being adults, which for me has led to huge amounts of anxiety and worry in my life.

This really has created a mess because I just flat out have not been trusting God with our future or with our daily lives. Today after the service at church, I saw my pastor Shaun. After asking me how I was and my answer being "okay," he said he appreciated my honesty. I felt like I needed to talk to him, so I asked him about how he is trying to sell his house and what's going on with his new ministry. Without me even saying anything about my worry he began to tell me how he has had a lot of worry and anxiety in his life for the first time in around 10 years (he is moving to Beaverton and expanding his ministry over there). He said that when guys get worried we drink too much, spend money, and do other things... I think he has been talking to a lot of guys recently who had been worried.

What he said was so encouraging because everything totally applied to me, and it was very encouraging to know that even the mentors and leaders in my life struggle with sin (worry is a huge sin). What was even more encouraging was the escape he had found from worry. He said that we need to stop looking at our bank accounts all the time, trying to figure things out for ourselves. We need to let God do the things we keep trying to do. That's hard for me because I know it's true but it's hard to apply it. Meaning, it's really hard to let go and believe that Jesus will really take care of things, that I don't need to be perfect right this second, that God will really provide for us financially, and that we really can be happy along the way. All I can do is trust...which means I do way less than I have been trying to do.

Andrew

5 songs with an 80's and 90's emo sound that are awesome.

Check them out. Before emo was whiny songs about girls, it was an awesome sound. Now, not all whiny songs about girls are bad, but here are a few songs to check out if you want to hear the more classic emo sound.

1. Cap'n Jazz - Oh Messy Life
2. Sunny Day Real Estate - In Circles
3. Cursive - The Martyr
3. Rites of Spring - For Want Of
4. Mineral - Gloria

Check out the songs, if you hate post-2000 whiny emo you may like this stuff it sounds way different.

Top 20 albums

(alphabetical)

1. AFI - Black Sails in the Sunset (1999)

2.AFI - The Art of Drowning (2000)

3. Against Me! – Reinventing Axl Rose (2001)

4. Alkaline Trio - Alkaline Trio (2000)

5. Alkaline Trio – Goddamnit (1998)

6. Alkaline Trio - Maybe I'll Catch Fire (2000)

7. Brand New – Deja Entendu (2003)

8. Brand New – The Devil and God are Raging Inside of Me (2006)

9. Cursive – The Ugly Organ (2003)

10. Elliott Smith - Either/OR (1997)

11. mewithoutYou – Brother, Sister (2006)

12. Modern Life is War – Witness (2005)

13. Modest Mouse – The Lonesome Crowded West (1997)

14. Pedro the Lion - Control (2002)

15. Refused – The Shape of Punk to Come (1998)

16. Saves the Day - Can't Slow Down (1998)

17. Saves the Day – Stay What You Are (1999)

18. Saves the Day - Through Being Cool (2001)

19 + 20 = well, I actually couldn't think of 2 more that fit in the same category, just like 10-15 more that were secondary.

College graduation

Holy crap I have 2 weeks of school left then finals then I am done. So many big decisions coming up - jobs, future school, summer trip, living locations, even just how to spend my time and save or spend my money... I really learned today a lot about Jesus. He is so good and so faithful and he will carry my wife and I through this hard time.

2008 Album of the Year

Forget lists, numbers, whatever. My favorite album of the year hands down is:

Album of the Year
The '59 Sound - The Gaslight Anthem

On Obama's victory

It's 8:20 western time, Oregon's polls have only been closed for 2o minutes. But according to many websites, Obama has basically won. I voted for Bob Barr, the Libertarian. I secretely cheered for McCain. I don't really agree with anything Obama stands for. But I truly think that in one way tonight, in one major way, America is victorious.

Tonight I was talking to my mom on the phone and I told her that I thought people liked Obama just because he was black. I also downplayed the fact that he would probably be the first black president. My mom, as she often has, humbled my ignorance. She explained to me how she grew up in the 60s as a teenager, and how she watched Martin Luther's speeches. She watched segregation end. She watched how many people were ignorant, horrible racists in that time. Then she said sonething along the lines of: "Andrew, I don't agree with anything Obama stands for either. But I am not going to lie, when he gives his victory speech tonight, it will be a tear-jerker for your father and I. I fought against racism back then, and I never imagined in my lifetime that this country would progress enough in that way to have a black president."

So tonight I give a congratulations to Obama, that he was courageous enough growing up to go against the grain for his race and head into politics. I praise America that we are (mostly) past the blind racist bigotry of yesterday. Today is not the day to complain about the bad I think Obama will bring. Today I am looking at the good. I saw Jesse Jackson crying on TV, as someone who has watched racism in the past and fought against it, and I say "Thank you God that blacks are no longer hated in America, may we progress in other ways too!"

Ten bands to listen to if you think the Portland music scene is about Everclear and the Decemberists:

-Elliot Smith (indie/folk)
-From Ashes Rise (punk/hardcore)
-Tragedy (hardcore/crust)
-The Physical Challenge (currently called I Quit - hardcore)
-The Dead Unknown (metal/hardcore)
-It Prevails (hardcore/melodic metalcore)
-Inked in Blood (metalcore)
-His Name Shall Breathe (folk)
-Life and Limb (hardcore)
-Defiance (street punk)

Some other fun bands from Portland(ish): Unrestrained, Believing in June, Brutal Fight, Belmont Academy, Stick to Your Guns, Deal Victoria, Countdown to Life, Six Bullets, A Decade 'Til Dawn, American Me, A Hope For Home, Broadway Calls.

life

sorry if my last post was extreme. I am not voting for Obama or McCain, I am done with politics or political discussions right now!

Is Barack Obama like Martin Luther King?

People are saying that Barack Hussein Obama is comparable to Martin Luther King. He is charismatic, he is black, he wants change, and he talks about God.
Anyone familiar with the passions and stances of King would understand that he would be disgusted with Obama's policies. King stood for true justice, love, and mercy. He believed that men and women should be judged not by their skin color but by the content of their character. He believed that the marginalization of members of society was evil. His love and justice was fueled by the glory of Jesus Christ. Read King's Letter from Birmingham Jail. He believed that justice was necessary was because it right. "The urgency of now."
I was listening to a speech of Obama's, and he stole the phrase the "urgency of now" from Dr. King, referring to the "change" that he wants. Obama may stand for some good changes in society. But underlying that is the fact that he is the most liberal politician on the issue of abortion to ever run for public office. He believes in infanticide:
http://www.dennyburk.com/?p=2359
Martin Luther King was assassinated in 1968, 5 years before Roe vs. Wade. King's love for people would not put up with Obama's disrespect for the most vulnerable and helpless members of society - unborn children and babies (yes BABIES, he believes in partial birth abortion and infanticide). So-called "choice" kills about 3700 babies every day in the United States of America. There have been 4,000 U.S. soldiers that have died in the Iraq war. The war is important, but if I may borrow a phrase from Dr. King, "the urgency of now" issue in this country is abortion. Now is the time to stand up against it and not vote for public leaders that believe in infanticide. Now is the time to change.

Photographic evidence is considered one of the most valid forms of evidence. It has fueled civil rights, and it has helped people see the atrocities of the Holocaust and of different wars. Here is a picture of a murdered ("aborted") baby at 22 weeks (around 5 1/2 months).

http://abort73.com/HTML/I-A-4-photos22.html

This is messed up...

I can't believe this happened

http://www.thestar.com/News/Canada/article/471031

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,396581,00.html

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/04/america/NA-Canada-Bus-Stabbing.php

Summer School

I'm in my second class of summer school right now. We just finished a test and I'm on break. Yay!
I haven't written in my blog forever. I kind of want to start one or two new blogs, one focusing on theology and the other on music and music reviews. I want both to be there for discussion and sharing of opinions. The music one would focus on punk, hardcore, metalcore, emo, indie, folk, alt-country and rap. I'm thinking about just writing reviews on albums I like or dislike and getting people's opinions and suggestions for new music. The theology one would be more of a forum of discussion among people I know.
Let me know what ya'll think?

God

Yesterday and today I read my Bible a lot. I'm not saying that to sound like a good-old Christian boy, I am just saying that God led me to reading it a lot.

I think often times we truly, truly underestimate the power and truth contained in the Bible. It truly is God's Word. It guides, strengthens, empowers, and grows. It shows us how we need to change. It contains the mystery of the gospel of God and the greatest secret in the world. As Paul says in Ephesians and Colossians, the gospel was a mystery that was hidden for ages but then revealed to them, and it continues to be revealed to all mankind always, even us in 2008.

I love that most of the Bible God shows himself to us through narrative.

The Bible is also so powerful in it's description of love. Paul writes in Ephesians:
"And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved."

Everything that God does flows from his love. I John states that GOD IS LOVE. He is the definition of true love. God is not love in the sense that we can define what love is and then push that on God, he is love in the sense that his nature encompasses all that is truly love and by that , by experiencing him through people and his Word and by his change in our lives, we know true love. We know love by experiencing true sacrifice, by seeing what Jesus did and why he did it. We know love by observing the Trinity interact in John. We know love by reading the pages in the Bible. We know love by seeing people love others. We know love by seeing anything good in this world. We know love by knowing God, we know God by truly receiving his loving transforming mercy and grace.

This isn't supposed to be preachy. It's what I've been thinking and experiencing. God is good. Run to his Word and be changed by it, and then help change other people's lives.
Andrew

taking back sunday

taking back sunday's first album is always catchy, always. and it always makes me nostalgic. I really like John Nolan's voice. Does anyone listen to Straylight Run? Listen to the songs Hand in the Sky (Big Shot), Later that Year, and A Slow Descent. Pretty good.


Hilarious:

Daniel Plainview: Drainage! Drainage, Eli, you boy. Drained dry. I'm so sorry. Here, if you have a milkshake, and I have a milkshake, and I have a straw. There it is, that's a straw, you see? You watching?. And my straw reaches acroooooooss the room, and starts to drink your milkshake... I... drink... your... milkshake! I drink it up!
Eli Sunday: Don't bully me, Daniel!
Daniel Plainview:Did you think your song and dance and your superstition would help you, Eli? I am the Third Revelation! I am who the Lord has chosen!

If you have actually seen There Will Be Blood, watch this short spoof it's hilarious. If not, the 51 seconds contains like three spoilers so don't watch it

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rDVzmbtVZ6s

peace

well it is Oscars night, and can't you already tell I like making lists?

I saw probably 20 or 25 movies that were released in 2007, here are the my top 10. Check out the lists of great directors that made all these movies...


1 and 2 (tie) - There Will Be Blood (Paul Thomas Anderson) & No Country For Old Men (the Coen Brothers).
3. Hot Fuzz (Edgar Wright)
4. Zodiac (David Fincher)
5. Grindhouse (Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino)
6. Diary of the Dead (George A. Romero)
7. Juno (Jason Reitman)
8. Darjeeling Limited (Wes Anderson)
9. 3:10 to Yuma (James Mangold)
10. The Mist (Frank Darabont)


Movies from '07 I want to see: Atonement, Michael Clayton, Once, Sweeney Todd, the Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, I'm Not There, Once, Away From Her, Across the Universe

"My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord..."

Those were the last public words that Martin Luther King Jr. said, the day before he was assassinated.

I just listened to his "I have a dream" speech and his last speech. Listen to both of them here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_j4h3gGYZSk

The last speech he gives almost has an awareness in it that he is going to die soon, and he does not care. He just wanted to do the Lord's will he said. Listen to these speeches, and wake up to the injustice that goes on all around the world and in our country. Racism, rape, abortion, to name a few. Wake up.

just a thought

Promoting animals rights and promoting pro-choice is valuing animals over humans. If you disagree, I would love to hear your argument.

(extreme) Animal Rights says: animals should not be killed for food, they have rights and should not be murdered. Farm owners should not have the right to choose to kill their animals for food, the animals have a right to life.

Pro-choice says: Unborn babies do not have a right to life. Mothers have a right to let a doctor murder their baby if they choose. Human rights start when a baby is out of a mother.


Let me know what you think.