X's and Y's

Here I am, in yet another Starbucks, listening to the new Coldplay album. Had I known how much time I would be spending in this place over the summer, I probably wouldn't have bought the album myself. I must admit, though it's classic Coldplay, it hasn't grabbed me like "Rush of Blood to the Head." I have a hunch that maybe Chris Martin's schizophrentic attitude and relationship with the media may have tainted my opinion of the album before I even heard it. One magazine article quotes him saying things like, "It's gonna be the best album ever made! We're gonna be bigger than U2" and in another article he's whining about all the pressure from the media and saying, "It's no big deal. If the album sells, great. If not, oh well." Okay, Chris. Time to choose between "egotistical rock star" (ala, Liam and Noel Gallagher) or "indifferent musical genius" (ala, Adam Sandler . . . er no, wait . . . Eddie Vedder). I say, keep your mouth shut and let the music speak for itself.

The Mediocre 4

Just saw "Fantastic 4." Decent movie. Stays true to the comic book genre. Fair character development. Script wasn't too cheesy or predictable. Of course, the plot . . . well, that's another thing. But hey, it's another superhero comic book film. I'm sure someday soon the genre is going to wear out. Hopefully not before they do a Green Lantern film though. =)

Challenging Words from Robbie Seay

I've been really touched over the last few days with some lyrics by Robbie Seay Band, from his album "10,000 Charms."

Let your change come from within
Plant your foolishness in me
Hit me at my knees with truth
That I might fall





It's a bold request to God for change and humility, but one that I must be willing to ask from him if I am to be fully engaged in the process of transformation that is available to me through the Messiah - painful though it may be at times. Ouch. Did I just say that?

Postal Service, Iron & Wine, and . . . M&M's?

So I'm just sitting here putting a little CD together of some music I've been listening too lately including bands like Deathcab for Cutie, The Shins, Postal Service, Modest Mouse, Iron & Wine, etc. - bands that, more or less, are off the radar of mainstream music, but demonstrate brilliantly creative song writing (in my humble opinion.) Suddenly, I hear the Iron & Wine cover of "Such Great Heights" (originally by Postal Service) coming from the TV in the other room. Curious, I dash over to the TV, only to find some guy sitting on a park bench - eating M&M's.

Maybe what struck me was the contrast between a mainstream product riding on the coat tails of obnoxiously invasive and ubiquitous American-style marketing - and a song of considerable artistic integrity that took some extra work for me to discover, and that by word-of-mouth.

It begs a few questions:
- Is there any hope that purveyors of pop culture (eg., media conglomerates) will ever recognize the inherent value in artistic expression, aside from it's revenue potential?

- Given the subjective nature of artistic expression, is it even possible to separate artistic excellence from financial incentive?

- Will the large grassroots followings of many "indie bands" ever get the attention of those who hold the keys to widespread cultural exposure (i.e., the media conglomerates)? If so, would these bands be compromising their creative integrity to partner with these "key holders" if they were guaranteed their continued creative licence?

- Are test markets, and other mechanisms that media conglomerates use to predict if a song/band will be worthy of mainstream attention, artistically bankrupt?

- Is it possible for artistic appreciation in society to grow such that it overcomes the current soured marriage of capitalism and music?
(Interesting, isn't it, that some of the best art and the most talented artists in today's world have been relegated to advertising agencies and PR companies - the engine rooms of greedy capitalism.)

For those of you who see any semblance of logic in these questions and can follow along with this ambiguous rambling, please feel free to bring clarity to my nonsense.

For those who don't have a clue about where these questions are coming from, let me spell out my frustrations a little more clearly. It seems that, in Western society, we are strategically exposed to and given access to music that will make the businessmen behind large media conglomerates (e.g., Viacom, EMI) more and more wealthy. Therefore, the music we hear on radio and television is only there because of it's potential to make these men (and, granted, the stockholders) wealthy. My issue is that music, as artistic expression, has value outside of it's ability to make money. And, unfortunately, some of the best music in the world today does not cause these media bosses to see dollar signs. Having said that, capitalism has seemingly infiltrated, hijacked and trivialized Western society's concept of artistic excellence by declaring that music only has value if it has the potential to rake in the money.

There. I'm done now. Please don't call me a music snob. I think my Linkin Park collection disqualifies me from that label.

Deep Thought for the Day

Came across this deep thought in an e-mail today. Thought I should share it with the blogosphere:

"It makes me mad when people say I turned and ran like a scared rabbit. Maybe it was like an angry rabbit, who was running to go fight in another fight, away from the first fight."

This has got to be one of those Jack Handy things.

London Bombings

Since the London bombings last week, I've had a chance to check in with the Hightown Baptist Church crowd back in England. Everyone is fine, though there was apparently a pretty close call with Steve Royce. Steve is one of 3 or 4 people at Hightown Baptist who commutes into London every day for work. Apparently, the tube train that he was riding on his way to work was just one ahead of the train that was bombed after leaving King's Cross Station.

From the conversations I've had with various people in Luton over the phone, people are pretty on edge there, especially since some controlled explosions by the Luton police at the train station earlier this week. However, there also appears to be a real sense of resolve and determination to not let this kind of mindless violence affect the everyday lives of people in the London area. My hope and prayer is that the church in England will rise to the occasion to speak hope and light into these circumstances as well. This will only happen if church leadership is ready, willing, and able to equip their people to be ready and to have their eyes open for opportunities to do just that in their relationships with people around them.

Father God, inspire your people in England to embody compassion, hope, and love so that those living without you will be drawn to you through them. Turn this tragedy that has gripped England and the rest of the world into a catalyst of spiritual renewal for the people of the UK and beyond.

Forgive us for the times when we have NOT represented you well on this earth and for when we have spoken words of competition and antagonism towards Muslims. We recognize that they are not THE enemy, any more than others living outside of a relationship with you - including millions of Americans and Britons. Forgive us (especially the Church in the U.S.) for when we confuse our nationality with our faith. Remind us that Muslim fundamentalists are never beyond the reach of your transforming power.