Spring Break 2012! Indiana/Nashville.

My parents and I drove to Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana for a couple of days during spring break to check out the campus.  We also checked out the University of Illinois at Urbana.  Apparently I need to be considering different options for graduate school already...so this was the beginning of campus tours (...again...) for the next phase of my "adult" life.  It was very interesting and nice to see these very prestigious schools in person, and all of the history associated with them.

To wrap it up, we decided to make a stop in the magnificent town of Nashville, TN on the way home.  We ate at a really awesome restaurant called Jamaica Way, that was actually featured on the Food Network show "Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives".  After eating some great Jamaican food, we made two more stops: Grimey's and Trader Joe's.

Trader Joe's is a fantastic grocery store, with really cool food items you can't get anywhere else.  For example, I bought a jar of Habenero and Tomatillo salsa.  Definitely worth the stop.  Next was Grimey's, the most incredible, unique, best-stocked music store I have ever been to, ANYWHERE.  I have never seen a more vast collection of CDs and vinyls in such a small area.  It was great to just chat with some of the employees too, and hear stories of some of the bands they have been able to get in the past to play in-store shows.  One guy I got to chat with told me the story of how they got the Black Keys to play, before they made it big time.  If you want, check THIS VIDEO of them playing one of their old hits, "Your Touch", in store!  It gave me great satisfaction knowing that I stood in the same spot where Dan and Pat had graced the store with their prescense.  So the story goes that the employee I talked to had heard about the Black Keys before they went big, and he had to ask them to play a show in-store.  The Black Keys remembered that favor, and actually came back to play again as a "thank you" to the store for giving them a gig as they were trying to make it to the big leagues.  We also talked about how I heard about the store from watching THIS VIDEO of the Avett Brothers playing a show during Record Store Day a couple of years ago.  I will definitely be going back there.  I really like Nashville as a city too.  Who knows, maybe I'll end up living there when I grow up.

Purdue!

University of Illinois campus

Pictures of Nashville

GRIMEY'S

Great sunset pictures.

(My treasures from Grimey's.  From left to right: Andrew Bird's new record, X&Y, Tallest Man on Earth, Mutemath's Odd Soul, and a Cage the Elephant Live @ Grimey's recording CD)

Passion 2012. Isaiah 26:8. For His reknown. Parte Uno.

This is a story about Passion.  What is Passion you ask?  It's a conference in Atlanta, GA that lasts about 4 days in January, mostly geared towards college students, where they discuss a certain issue that is affecting the world's population, and how we can all try to solve the problem by working together and doing our own little part.  They also are a big part of the reason why we should do these good acts.  The reason to help these people is because God has already given us so much and has blessed us with so much...most importantly through dying for us.  For you and for me...sinners.  Those who have rejected Him and want nothing to do with him.  Those who live selfishly in this world we have been put into, just to live for ourselves and make ourselves more comfortable, not for one second giving the One who made it all a second thought.  Passion helps with reminding us about the even bigger picture of spreading the LOVE of God and helping those who are in need have a tangible experience of how this great God loves them.  Click HERE (<---over there...) for more info. Otherwise read on!  This is a huge play-by-play of what I experienced there those four days.  I might have forgotten some of it, but hopefully the main highlights have been transcribed here for your enjoyment:


PART 1:


Day 1-

Good drive down there.  Check in to the hotel went smooth!  I had to wait in the lobby of the hotel to wait for my group from the Wesley foundation back at MSU.  I looked around and it looked like the student union during rush food hour.  College kids EVERYWHERE!  Little did I know it was just the beginning...


Registration was the first stop.  One would think, "Oh this will be FUN!  Just have to go to the front desk, tell my name, and get my cool new wristband for my family group!".  It was fun.  I did get a cool new wristband (that has somehow managed to still stay on...).  But instead of being a quick ordeal, it took about 2 hours just to get to the desk!  Can't expect too much better with 45,000 students there trying to do the same thing.  And this would definitely be foreshadowing for the days to come.
  

45,000 people.  45,000 college students.  It began to sink in a little, but it didn't really hit me until we entered THE DOME.  We actually got there late after registration, so the night session was already beginning.  Loud guitars, drums, and singing were going on all around with prayers and just plain focused worship, straight to God.  You could kind of sense most of the "Passion newbs" (including myself) being a little hesitant singing at the top of our voices, but things were just getting started.  Then Louie Giglio gave the first talk, about how we are all dead as sinners, but that Jesus raises us from the dead.  He compared it to the story in Luke 7 where Jesus walks up to the crying woman and shows her compassion by reviving her dead son.   


The next step that came was the so-called "backbone" of Passion: the community group.  These were huge groups of about 3000 or so Passion-goers that were then divided into even smaller groups within their comm group to form family groups (yeah...shows how many people were there).  So I met my little family group and we just had time for introductions before it was time for...LATE NIGHT!  Late nights were the extra concerts that were put on every night.  First one up: David Crowder Band.  A lot of people afterwards said it felt like the shortest concert they've ever been to, and I would agree.  They played a lot of their hits like 'No One Like You', 'Shadows', '...Neverending...', and some new songs too off of their new CD.  34 songs on it by the way.  Its fantastic.  Give it a listen.  I mean who can turn down Crowder renditions of old hymns with a bluegrass vibe?  Speaking of bluegrass...they actually played some bluegrass tunes as closers for the show.  It was just great to see them at one of their last shows before they broke up for good.  May your music live in infamy Crowder band.  FORever, and ever, and ever, and ever...


Bed didn't come until 3 am or so.  And 630 was the wake up call needed in order for us to get to our community group on time in the morning.  And this was just the first night.  But oh was it good first night.

Day - 2

Woke up with the roosters to pay my parking for my car.  That was a pain, because for some reason the parking ticket at the place I parked at expired at 6 am.  Of course it would.  So not only was I running on 3 hours of sleep, but I had to deal with this parking issue.  Good did come of it though!  I figured out how to pay for the parking through an app on my iPhone.  Thanks Steve, just saved me one there.

Morning session was good; talk by Beth Moore.  She discussed how God knows everything about us, every little secret that we have about our lives.  Then was lunch, and afternoon session!  The afternoon speaker was Christine Caine.  Yeah, I never heard of her too.  But then she talked, and I just knew she was from Hillsong church "down unda".  The funny thing was she basically just shared her life story, and how God got her to her current place of working full time towards the cause of stopping human slavery and sex trafficking (the main issue discussed at Passion 2012).  Sometimes, those stories are the most relate-able because they are about a real life person and what they are doing as a result of themselves being radically changed by this awesome Savior we have.  I know there was more to it than what I've mentioned, but I seem to have forgotten.  I'll have to listen to it again myself.  It's one of those talks you need to hear every once in a while just to get your mind grounded again.

Then came night session.  The speaker: FRANCIS CHAN.  Surprisingly enough though, it wasn't deep or mind blowing.  It was just, real.  A real guy, just telling us about his life of just reading the bible.  Just sitting down, and reading it.  As if it was a history book, or any other book for that matter.  Except, he believed it.  He believed that everything he read was the truth, and that it really happened, and that it applied to every human being on the face of the earth.  And being incredibly struck by it, it changed him from the inside out.  Being changed in a way that makes him now want to follow the commands Jesus gave us, as literally as you can read them.  To give an example, he shared an anecdote with us.  He said he and a group from his church in California were reading the story in Luke 14:15-23 where Jesus tells the parable of the rich man that sets up a banquet night for all of his rich friends.  They all had excuses of why they couldn't attend though, but he didn't put it to waste.  He then told his servants to go and bring the lowest of the low.  Those that had no food or a place to stay.  To bring them in, and have all of this feast go to them.  Just because they were human.  Just because they needed a helping hand.  Francis and his team were so struck by that story.  It made him say, "Guys, why can't we do this?  What is stopping us from making this a reality?".  So they did.  They had a photographer.  They helped them all get dressed up.  And he said they all had a great time!  But more importantly, they were able to share God's love to these people by this simple act of kindness.  They actually LIVED out what they read and claimed to believe in.  That is the difference, the crucial difference.  And that is what made the talk by Francis Chan so memorable.


And then, worship that night, with Hillsong United for late night.  But that night something special happened, and it wasn't worshipping with 45,000 other college students with the awesome United band, even though that was an experience of a lifetime.  The lights and the building drums, and the praising God with our voices was great.  Inspiring for sure.  But one thing stuck out to me more than anything else, and it's one of the few quotes that I remember from Passion directly.  During our worship after Francis' talk, he stayed up on the stage.  You could sense he was singing every word with the meaning right behind every syllable, every word straight the God of the universe.  Then he said something that struck me.  It's like the on switch turned on.  It's like God was literally telling me this through Francis.  And then he said:



"Realize who you are singing to!  The words of these songs!  This GOD you sing to!  The Holy Spirit may be asking you to do some crazy things right now.  And everything inside of you is screaming at you 'Are you CRAZY?!?  Don't be ridiculous!'.  Don't listen to them!"  



"This God is worth DYING for!".  


God.  Our God.  We can only call him "ours" because of what He has done.  And what a wonderful blessing that is.  But He is worth dying for.  DYING for.  Paul says in Philippians 3:7-8 that "To live is Christ, but to die is gain."  Dying with the security that you will spend all eternity in heaven with your loving Savior is nothing to be afraid of or to prevent.  It's GAIN.  That is where we will have everything we need and more.  This God is worth dying for.  


Not saying you need to go out to some remote village, proclaim God's name, and get yourself speared.  Or maybe you do.  If that is God's call for your life, do it.  Don't hesitate.  Nothing in this world can ever take away God's love for you.  Not pain.  Not loss.  Not even death.  And it's a wonderful thing to remember.  Do we have that fearlessness within us?  Does our security in God allow us to not have to cling to our bank accounts, our possessions, or even our loved ones?  God can use all of those things for good, but if those things take away our love and devotion that should be going to the one and true God of the universe, then that is when things need to change.  That is when we need to let our bonds to the temporary die away, and become alive once more in God's everlasting love.  


Part 2, to be continued. 

Take 2

So the blog thing didn't really work last time.  Maybe I was trying too hard to think of clever things to write about.  I'm ready to try again though, but it's going to work differently this time.

My blog is going to be like my journal.  Which means I'll mostly be writing about things that happen in my life, thoughts that I have, and everything in between.  And since my life has been given to the service of the one and true Lord of my life, Jesus Christ, a lot of the posts are going to be related to my faith.  May it be thoughts on scripture or a book that I am reading, observations on walking the walk, or just other musings.  I will post other things, trips, concerts, maybe a music video or two.  But I'm going to use this blog as a place for me to write about things and ideas that I come across in life.

And to begin, I'm going to post a little review of my time at the Passion Conference 2012 at the Georgia Dome this past January.  It was a great inspirational week with 40,000+ of my new college friends learning about the horrible tragedy of Sex Trafficking and Human slavery, but also learning about what we can do to stop it.

But more on that in the next post.

Top 5 Bands (...as of right now...)

Yes yes yes.  It has been far too long, blogging world.  To get me back in the swing of things, I decided to make a little write-up about my top 5 bands right now!  In no particular order.

(subject to change within a short period of time)

1.  Death Cab for Cutie - Classic band.  Been around for years and years, but sadly I have only been acquainted with them for only about half a year!  Our acquaintance is quickly becoming a life-long friendship though.  Their indie rock sound fits them perfectly.  They definitely do not sound like every other band out there, but they are not extremely indie to the point of where you wonder how they can still classify it as music.  And Ben Gibbard, first of all rocks for marrying Zooey Deschanel (mega cool points).  Second, is a master at the art of songwriting.  Fantastic lyrics.  New CD ("Codes and Keys") out at the end of May!  Their single "You Are a Tourist" is out and kickin.  Song suggestions: Soul Meets Body, Title and Registration, Cath, I Will Follow You Into the Dark, We Looked Like Giants, Lack of Color, Grapevine Fires.

2.  Fleet Foxes - Wow.  Wow wow wow.  This band is definitely in my "Bands To See Live" list.  Every time I listen to "Oliver James", I get goosebumps.  The way they sing, its incredible.  The harmonies.  Ooooooo.  Their music is so calming.  If you could make "the outdoors/watching a sunset/staring out from a mountain view" into music, it would sound like Fleet Foxes.  They are a fairly new band, but their self-titled debut was a success.  Their second CD ("Helplessness Blues") is going to be realeased May 3.  Can't wait!  I also love how they don't really sound like any other band.  If you hear one of their songs, you immediately recognize it's them.  Song suggestions: Oliver James, Ragged Wood (personal favorite), Mykonos, White Winter Hymnal, Blue Ridge Mountains.

3.  Sleeping At Last - Ever heard of them?  Not surprised.  I wouldn't have either if it wasn't for their Christmas EP they had on NoiseTrade last winter.  Little shout out to NoiseTrade too, great site.  They do a great job helping up and coming bands release their music and get their name out.  So yes, this band is composed of two guys, Ryan and Dan.  I love their music, acoustic chill type.  But the HUGE strong point of this band is their lyrics.  EVERY SINGLE SONG has fantastic lyrics.  They are Christians, so they have a religious tint to alot of their songs, which I personally like.  But they don't write the mainstream "We love Jesus" songs.  Nothing against those songs, but its good to hear bands that can say the same message in a different, deeper way.  And these guys definitely accomplish that task.  Probably my favorite Christian band, besides Relient K.  Check out their Yearbook EPs on iTunes!  It's a project of theirs where they are trying to release an EP every month for one year.  They started last October, but all of the EPs released up to this point are still for sale.  I have all of them up to January, and I have not wasted one cent.  Song suggestions: Next to Me, Umbrellas, Porcelain, 101010, Emphasis, Needle and Thread.

4.  Explosions in the Sky - "A band that has songs with NO lyrics?  Are you CRAZY?  HOW can they be good???"  Well they are.  Fact is fact.  Yes they are an instrumental band, but if you are like me and have a list of bands you want to see live, add these guys on there right now.  I saw them a couple of weeks ago, and I was completely blown away.   The greatest part of the show was watching them perform the songs that I had listened to from their CDs.  I know that sounds obvious...I mean what else do you see at a concert other than a band playing their songs.  But it was different with Explosions.  Their music may have no words, but it is far from being void of emotion and feeling.  And they perform with that same emotion.  It was a sight to see.  New CD ("Take Care Take Care Take Care") coming out at the end of this month!  Song suggestions: Your Hand in Mine, First Breath After Coma, Birth and Death of a Day, Yasmin the Light.

5.  Muse -  Talented.  Incredible.  Mind-blowing.  Nothing like them.  And I can say that because I have seen them live.  Lead singer and guitarist Matt Bellamy is one of the most talented guitar players in the world by far.  I mean you have to be good to get a character in Guitar Hero that's made after you.  I am absolutely jealous of his skills.  Just the way he uses effects (built-in guitar ones too) makes one go "How in the world would he think to do that???".  I love how he uses really distorted effects to get crazy harmonics, and how he has touch pads built into his guitar that let him change effects like delay, pitch, volume, just with a quick swipe.  Not to say the bass player and drummer are just average.  They excel at their instruments as well.  Just a threesome of talent all around that create some great hard-rockin, head bobbin, mosh-pitting music.  Love it.  Matt has got one heck of a vocal range too.  Somehow he can manage to sing constant falsetto for an entire song ("Supermassive Black Hole").  Keep it up guys.  Song Suggestions:  Uprising, Knights of Cydonia, Stockholm Syndrome, Resistance, United States of Eurasia, Assassin, Plug in Baby, New Born, Hysteria, Map of the Problematique...AND EVERYTHING ELSE.

Well, thats 5!  As I said earlier, these are just my top 5 that I have right now.  They usually change, depending on what mood I'm in, or if I just find a new band that I get over-excited about.  Muse and Sleeping At Last are usuals though.  I hope you readers check out these bands!  They are worth your attention.  And feel free to comment with your top 5 bands as well!  Being able to share your opinion of what you enjoy is one of the great things about music.

:D

Yellow and Fluffy

Yes, my name is Beep.
I have a brother that's a sheep.
And when I wonder where he is,
I just ask Little Bo Peep.

Don't ask how we are related.
I'm not so sure how we made it.
I just know we are brothers,
And that we would never fake it!

I am pretty random.
I am sometimes cool.
Snoopy's got nutin' on dis,
Everyone knows...chicks rule!

My poem is coming to an end,
But this is just the beginning.
I will...WILL write again,
Hoping you'll be here with me!

-Beep :>

Their names are Doc, Cutie, Ollie Oxen, and...Beep.

Wow.  It's been awhile.  So much has gone by...one semester at college, Christmas (SNOW!), New Years...and now the beginning of another semester.

A lot has happened with this blog too.  Obviously...NOT.

Which is why I got some help.  I came across these four guys to help me out with the blog!  Yes they are...puffy...and yellow...and...not human...BUT they are good writers!

Actually...they don't have any experience.  Whatsoever.  I don't think they even went to school...

Well I was desperate.  That's what it comes down to.  So I assigned each of them a specific writing duty!

-From left to right-

     Doc does all intellectual and/or religious pieces.

     Cutie does everything music. (Guess what his favorite band is!      
     It involves a...vehicle...that is his favorite color....that drives  
     other people....and the opposite of...life....yeah.)

     Ollie Oxen, "Ox" for short, does everything sports, outdoorsy,
     longboarding....stuff.

     And Beep.  Well....I didn't really have anything else for him to  
     write about.  So...he's just going to write whatever comes to his
     mind every now and then.

Hey, at least if I get writer's block I'm covered.

And I of course will write my own posts every now and then as well.

So hopefully with an actual writing staff, this blog will start exploding with new and exciting posts!

Hopefully....

Really though, I think the staff picture adds so much to the blog.

CONCERT!!!!!

Yes my fellow readers.

I went to see the band of all bands.

October 11th.

The venue: US Bank Arena Cincinnati, OH.


MUSE.


Wow.  I was absolutely completely blown away.  My friend and I seriously just sat in our seats for 10 minutes after the show, pondering what musical and effect genius we just experienced.  The LIGHTS!  The LASERS!  And of course the MUSIC!  Matt Bellamy did not disappoint.  I do have a bit of a bias towards him...since I play guitar and all.  But honestly the three guys that make up the band are all SUPER SUPER SUPER talented.

If I didn't get anything else from the show, one thing I got was the desire to see them again.  In an even bigger venue.

My new goal is to see Muse live, on the floor level with all of the other crazy Muse fans.  That's the only true way to experience singing an epic masterpiece like "Knights of Cydonia" with thousands upon thousands of other people that understand your love for this band.

My other musical goal is to see Coldplay live.........

.......ah rabbit trail!  Sorry.

Since a video is worth a hundred thousand words...

Here's something I compiled to attempt to fully display what I experienced that night.  Enjoy!

P.S.  I took some pictures of the wonderful city of Cincinnati while we were there.  I will be posting them soon, so stay tuned!

INTRODUCING......

the 'THANK GOODNESS IT'S FRIDAY-PARTY SONG' of the week!!!

This is a new update I am starting, where every Friday...or every other Friday...or every Friday in which I remember to do this...I will post a 'TGIF-Party Song' of the week!  I came up with this brilliant idea today, walking back from my last class.

Great idea huh???  Why thank ya thank ya... and muchos gracias!

Sooooooo......

This week's song IS.....
*drumroll*

'Knights of Cydonia' by Muse!

Fantastical, right?  I know.

Here's a YouTube of Muse playing this song LIVE.  Yes...Muse is AS amazing as the video shows...Matt Bellamy...if I could play guitar like him...ooooooooooh snapples.

And his GUITAR!...oooooo chill bumps...I might have to make a post just about that.

Anyways...enough about the technical stuff....enjoy this week's TGIF-Party Song!!!!!

Coldplay!

Chris Martin played a new song at his performance at the Apple Keynote on September 1.

What do you think?  A sign of good things to come?

Slllllllllllllllllide....

This video is so good!  I want to be able to do that.


Longboarding: Slide from Benjamin Dowie on Vimeo.

So it rained ALOT today...right when some friends and I decided to go to the cafeteria.  Seeing the rather spontaneous downpour of rain, this thought entered my head...

What if torrential downpours are caused by God dropping a HUGE water balloon on the earth???

Ok ok ok...but it is a cool thought, isn't it?

Enoch?...Who is that???

"When Enoch had lived 65 years, he became the father of Methuselah.  And after he became the father of Methuselah, Enoch walked with God 300 years and had other sons and daughters.  Altogether, Enoch lived 365 years.  Enoch walked with God; then he was no more because God took him away."  -Genesis 5:21-24 (NIV)

Yes yes I know...these are not your typical bible study verses.  Usually we study verses that are more directed to us and our lives, usually found in the New Testament.  Usually, I would be absolutely surprised if a pastor or speaker could give a lesson on THESE verses.  I mean what could you possibly get out of some verses talking about some random old guy from Noah's day???

Usually I would think this.  Not anymore.

I just got back from a short, two day retreat with the Baptist Student Union.  The speaker that talked was Michael Kelly.  He definitely surprised me when he whipped out these verses during the first session.  I mean, who heard of a speaker starting out a RETREAT with verses from the Old Testament, let alone verses about a genealogy???  Let's just say, I quickly became curious to what his point was going to be with these verses.  

After some introductory talk, he began to share his main revelation/point with us.  He started by getting us to imagine going on a walk with someone really close to us, whether that be a special someone, a good friend, or a beloved family member.  At first, going out to take a walk with them just to have a conversation might be awkward.  You might discuss school, what you ate for dinner, or what the weather will be like this week.  You will probably be looking at your watch every second, wondering why minutes haven't gone by.  But after this initial awkward walk, more and more come after it.  Before you know it, you begin to discuss really deep topics, and share deep secrets with each other.  This leads to a level of trust and honesty that both of you begin to appreciate.  Before you know it, these walks of yours happen every moment you both can find free time.  And remember the first walk when you almost stared a hole into your watch, trying to make the time go by?  Well now, you don't bother checking the time.  You could care less.  You just want to prolong this moment as long as you can.  You are totally absorbed and engaged in the conversation.  

This isn't necessarily because you enjoy the conversation.

It's because you LOVE this person.

If this has ever happened to you at least by a fraction, then you understand what I'm talking about.  Yes, when you talk with someone you care about deeply, time DOES go by fast.  It is proven, even if scientists can't explain it. 

At this point in the session was when Michael K came with his revelation.  This example of Enoch, walking with God, is exactly THIS type of walking.  It is not the "oh yes, you can walk with me during my life just to see what's going on and what my life is all about, but we might have to quit at certain points depending what comes up ahead" kind of walking.  The Hebrew word here for "walk" is human locomotion without a specified destination.  It is the walk that never seems to end.  The walk that you don't WANT an end to.  The walk that you are enjoying so much it lasts hours, days, years!  

Maybe even 365 years.

So what can we learn from this short description of Enoch's life in this list of a family tree, in one of those old books in the front of our bibles that rarely gets read?  That the Christian walk with our Savior should be one that seems to have no end.  The walk that shouldn't have an end.  The walk that CONSUMES our lives.  The walk that has no specified destination.

The walk where God eventually says to us, "Hey, we are closer to My Place tonight...how about you just come home with me?"

Blog: Symphony, Part 1 (Intro)

Wow.  So this...this is the blogging world.  I feel like there is so much potential here.  So many options, possibilities, avenues with which I can go down, which I can discover.

Or maybe I'm just overwhelmed.  Like I was when I made a Facebook account.

Either way, I would like to say thank you for checking out my blog!  It is a sure thing to say it is in progress, and WILL BE until I fully understand this whole blogging thing...which may be a while!  I just ask for you to be patient.  Any tips or advice would be greatly appreciated!

About the blog.  I want it to be about (MUSE)ic. -(Don't worry, I won't be doing that every time I write the word music...)- But I want it to be about so much more.  Because music is a great, beautiful, creative blessing God has given us as humans on this earth.  But there are so many other facets not only about my life, but about life in general.  So there WILL be music posts on here.  But also some funny ones.  And random ones.  And simple ones.  And definitely some serious ones.  So I hope this variety of upcoming post-age will keep your attention and keep you reading.

That's all I can ask for, right?