Every musician goes through phases of listening and influence, and my most recent one has been a saturation of the Civil Wars. If I could have any sound right now it would be this one. These two are amazing, passionate, deep, and delightfully simple. Do yourself a favor and pick up some of their music. I am also ecstatic that they are doing a show here in February. I will so be there.
I was on my way to rehearsal today for church this Sunday and I saw this while riding the red line today. It’s the view from the other side of the Charles River from the Cambridge side. My school is right next to where the big Prudential building is.
I’ve seen it before, but today it was especially beautiful. It’s starting to look like spring and it feels like it too.
I was thinking today, I live in freaking Boston! How did that happen? How do I live in such a giant city?
Wow… God is good and keeps surprising me with things I secretly have wanted for very long. Two things that spring to mind are that I’ve always wanted to live in a big, exciting city for a season, and I’ve always wanted to play in an orchestra… Both seemed way far off, but here I am…
It’s winter time and we just had the first real snow of the season. It was beautiful waking up to this.
Last night Ryan took me to his school where they were giving free horse and buggy rides with a huge white horse complete with jingle bells. Very special except for the freezing.
We’re looking forward to finishing out this semester strong and going home to Florida for a nice long month.
I feel strange because I have two homes. We want to end up back in Florida so we’re not cutting all our ties, but here in Boston is where we belong for now… At least it gives me a little bigger view of the world than before…
I feel blessed. I should be able to compose / record music for a few more short films in the next few months.
I am thrilled to get the chance to keep practicing this whole process. I love feeling challenged. Is it weird to say that I love feeling inadequate because it pushes me?
I hate that feeling of being below average.
I hate being disappointed in myself.
I keep being reminded that all true art and beauty comes from the Lord. If I try to write music from myself it will always be sub par. A copy of the real thing so to speak.
Oh the soul searching
Oh the change
Oh those moments of clarity where my flesh is silent and that faint hum from heaven burns the page
For a brief plot synopsis I will just say that this is a story about a man, Benjamin Button, who lives his life in reverse. He was born an old man and he grows younger. The film is about his life and who he loves and encounters along the way.
This film was a dialogue and character driven story. The narration and dialogue were so natural because of great writing and fantastic acting. This is a unique film in that it deals with so many themes on so many levels. It obviously touches on life and death and love, but it goes deeper into themes like, loyalty, obligation, parenting, fulfillment in life, responsibility, honesty, and on and on. I teared up about five or six times and all for different reasons.
This might sound like the movie was a jumbled mess, but it was beautifully woven together and flowed perfectly. It is impressive that one film can speak about so many things.
Sometimes the story would skip a few years and it went along with the screen shots that often faded in and out of scenes and together with the next scene.
The music was good but muted. It was there but it was not a defining feature. The simple notes moving back and forth between each other gave the impression of time passing and movement which fit perfectly with the themes of the movie.
The acting was pretty monumental. It is arguably Brad Pitt’s best work, but I have not decided whether that is my argument or not yet. Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett were wonderful as well.
I think it’s safe to say this film is in for winning it’s fair share of awards in the next couple months.
My dad (who happens to be basically the coolest old guy ever) has been buying concert dvds from classic rock bands lately.
So far we have watched Crosby, Stills and Nash: Long time comin’ two times, The Eagles: Farewell tour I twice, and Simon and Garfunkel Live in Central Park twice.
All of them are fantastic and have caused me to revisit again, my intense love for classic rock. I feel like I missed all the good stuff. I don’t know if I would have been a hippie or a stoner back then, but I definitely would have been obsessed with all the music.
My two favorites have been Crosby, Stills, and Nash, and Simon and Garfunkel.
CSN are musical geniuses and Paul Simon is a songwriting master. He is an absolute poet.
I still like much of todays music, but it does not compare at all the the golden age of the ’60s & ’70s.
For your listening and viewing pleasure…
Crosby, Stills & Nash. Suite Judy Blue Eyes.
Woodstock 1969
Simon and Garfunkel. Old friends and bookends &
59th Street Bridge Song (Feelin’ Groovy).
Concert in Central Park 1982.
Steve is back. He was only hiding.
How could I be that lucky? Of course he was only sleeping behind a leaf to protect himself from lizards and birds. *note the sarcasm*
Once I found him, Ryan journeyed out to the porch and slayed a fierce lizard who was waiting to pounce on Steve.
Two more leaves are gone, and Steve only continues to grow larger. When he turns into a butterfly, he will most certainly be a beast.
Steve
So as an addendum to the previous post, I would like to tell you about Steve.
Steve the caterpillar has been eating Harold for the past 3 days, however, Ryan insisted that we keep him to watch him turn into a butterfly. This thing is huge and doubled his size in about a day.
Meanwhile, Harold has lost about 4 big, healthy leaves and there is caterpillar shmeg all over my porch.
Also, I dislike butterflies.
This story takes a lucky turn; today I arrived home from work and Steve was gone. I hope he’s still alive eating some other plant, but his chubby greenness can no longer be found.
I think Harold is mad at me.
So today is quite possibly the most splendid day ever. It’s the time that we Floridian’s suffer through the summers to get while those Michiganders are freezing their noo noos off. I went running and I was actually running faster just to feel the wind in my face.
I was relishing the beauty and I was reminded of the song Beautiful Day by U2. Good song. Ryan A played it at our wedding.
I actually read the words and it made me feel. They made my heart sing.
The verses are filled with sadness and trouble like everything is, but, these words, they speak on their own.
Chorus
It’s a beautiful day Sky falls, you feel like It’s a beautiful day Don’t let it get away
Bridge
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
What you don’t know you can feel it somehow
What you don’t have you don’t need it now
Don’t need it now Was a beautiful day
