Nonsensical Ramblings of Mark

This morning I was thinking about digital music and some of the novel uses that, perhaps, have not been uncovered as of yet. I often see music as expression that is rendered in sound. I also work with the written word and see expression there as well. Obviously there are words that are set to music, but what about the music that are the words themselves? There is no question that there is a rhythm and rhyme to words and we raise and lower our voices (both in volume and pitch) when we read words...even if only in our minds. But what about words that are directly rendered to notes? In other words, what does a love letter sound like when compared to an eviction notice? And then I was wondering if we could tell what a document was after it had been rendered to music? Could I listen to a piece of music and say "that sounds like a blog post" or "that sounds like a recipe"? What does the "collision" of words and music sound like? What is the "proper" wa...

At least one of my sons is going to be extremely excited when I tell him that one of his heroes, Buzz Lightyear, is a "go" for the next space shuttle launch on May 31, 2008. This is an initiative from NASA aimed at introducing school children to space exploration and I think it is very well-placed. I will have to show him the picture of Buzz posing next to the space shuttle and find some way to share the launch with him on that day. Good thing it is on Saturday so, if we have to, we can watch it online.

I am a big fan of digital music. One would not have to read this blog long to know that I own a second-generation iPod Nano (silver, 4GB) and have 730 songs on it. I have about 400 MB left and a bunch of CDs that I would like to rip and store on the device. I have been meaning to do this for a while and have not had the chance. The genesis of this post came from the fact that I am able to play 19 different Vangelis pieces from three different albums (Chariots of Fire, Opera Sauvage, and Soil Festivities) without having to reload a CD or endure the shuffling of one CD to another in a multi-changer. Thus, it almost feels like the pieces are united into a whole when they are played in the specified sequence. There are new avenues and vistas of creativity that are opened, even to a hack like me, through the digitizing and playback of music. I am not sure if this sits well with the artist that composed the music, but maybe the art of composition will embrace this "new" medium to b...

I am teaching an adult bible class on a biblical approach to peacemaking and have wanted to push the envelope a bit, but have been reluctant to do it. In an earlier blog post I scribed some lyrics from The Smiths that were particularly relevant to the longing we humans were created with for relationships. I wanted to communicate those lyrics to my class but thought "better" of it. I did get to talk about the trinitarian economy a bit (one of my favorite topics) but felt like there was an honesty that was missing in the way I was going about the class. One of the approaches I long to take with any class I teach is to allow my humanity to escape. I hate it when I seem more professorial than real and know that no one who knows me thinks that I have it all together. That was my motive for sharing the song and talking to the loneliness we sometimes feel even when the "bodies are everywhere and even when they talk so loud you have to shout" (thanks 77's ). I know that...

I am the son and the heir Of a shyness that is criminally vulgar I am the son and heir Of nothing in particular You shut your mouth How can you say I go about things the wrong way I am human and I need to be loved Just like everybody else does - How Soon is Now? - The Smiths True relationships are hard to come by especially in Christian circles. True, loving friends experiencing life together are rare and this is something that the church is in need of more and more. If our relationship with someone can be defined in terms of a meal brought to them or a time when we had them over to our house that is something much different than one I feel compelled to call when I get a raise or when a tree falls on my neighbor's house. These are the relationships that God intends for me and the one He wants with me. I remember tough days in our sons' infancies that were halved because my wife was by my side. A lot of times just her presence made the crying and fussing more bearable. She didn...

Last night I dreamed that I met Joe Jackson. He was quite a bit older than he is now although still as hip as I have imagined that he would be. He cried when I told him my story and the role his music played in it and he signed the front of my shirt. I couldn't quite make out what he had written (I was reading it upside down after all) but I figured it was both personal and profound. The opening song on Joe Jackson's Blaze of Glory album is called Tomorrow's World and it is so fresh and real that it feels like he is in the room with me when I listen to it. I think one of the main reasons I like it is because of the beginning where the music seems to emerge. It doesn't begin but it is revealed to the listener. I have always been enamored with the idea of coming into something in the middle. For example, I love thinking that the music I listen to (currently Opera Sauvage by Vangelis) is always playing and I just happen to come across it as the various pieces start and sto...

I was reading the wikipedia entry for Steve Taylor and found that when he found The Clash's London Calling album he recognized that it saved his life musically. Having heard the album I can see it as a real eye opener and I have been influenced by it as well (albeit not as much as him). I count the influence of Invisible Connections by Vangelis as the album that not only had the largest influence on me musically, but opening my mind to a mode of inquiry and perspective that I never had before. I remember receiving it as a gift from my parents along with a CD player at Christmas of my Junior year in high school. After the first of what would be dozens of listens I was led down paths that have profoundly shaped who I am.