Needed Some New Backgrounds!

Review: Beautiful News - Matt Redman

This is a solid album but not Redman's best. Look for the songs to go big in churches though...

Beautiful News - Matt Redman

Review: Enter In - Chelsie Boyd

This is a great example of what happens when a young artist is seemingly being forced into a mold. The talent is clearly there but the album lacks heart.

Enter In - Chelsie Boyd

Review: Begin to Hope - Regina Spektor

I caught her video for "Fidelity" on VH1 one day and decided I had to pick up the album. I'm glad I did.

Begin to Hope - Regina Spektor

Review: Nashville - Solomon Burke

This is an amazing album and, had I heard it in 2006, would have had it on my Top 10 for the year!

Nashville - Solomon Burke

Review: Live at the Ryman - Marty Stuart

I'm pretty stoked that in a couple of days I'll be getting to do a phone interview with this legend. This live recording showcases the best that is Stuart and his Fabulous Superlatives!

Live at the Ryman - Marty Stuart

Review: Like Red on a Rose - Alan Jackson

I know what you're thinking, "Alan Jackson?!" But give this one a shot. This is not the Jackson of old. Rather, he makes a nice turn and offers up some unconventional country on this release. Well worth your time.

Like Red on a Rose - Alan Jackson

Review: Johnny Cash Live in Ireland DVD

Great stuff from the Man in Black.

Johnny Cash Live in Ireland DVD

Secret Confessions

Okay, I have a brief confession to make. I suppose it's not so much a confession as it is a secret desire. Don't worry kids! This is totally PG but it's something that I've thought quite a bit about, the sadness of which will strike you later. Ready? Okay, here goes:

You know those machines that you find in your local grocery stores or pharmacies? The one's that they have their for you to check your blood pressure because you're bored out of your mind while you wait for your prescription to be filled? Okay, have you ever just happened to be in the store as people were sitting down in them? Keep in mind the instructions listed on the machine. "Do no talk during the procedure." "Do not move during the procedure." "Do not breathe during the procedure." Okay, maybe the last one's a stretch but you get the drift. So, these people are locked into these modern-day torture devices, and I do mean locked in, and you happen upon them. Even better, you happen upon them from behind. Now, my secret desire is this: To just run up from behind them and scare the living crap out of them, old or young. I want to freak people out.

Is this sick? Um, probably. Would it be funny? Um, yes. Will I do it? I'll never tell...

Kids Pics

Review: Floating World - Anathallo

Here's an album that you simply must hear! One of my top 5 of 2006!

Floating World - Anathallo

...And What Have You Done?

This is the question that has been bouncing around my head during the holidays and as we enter into a new year, courtesy of John Lennon and Yoko Ono as posted earlier.

What have you done?

It's a powerful question that has caused me to reflect back upon the year that has quickly faded and forward to the days charging toward us. Please allow me a few moments to share.

2006 was a very interesting year for us as a family. It brought to us the amazing gift of our beautiful baby girl, Peyton Brooke, as well as some solid milestones for us as well. Both Erin and I finally completed our bachelor's programs and will walk in May of 2007. I also continued to grow in my understanding of the faith, particularly in terms of the ancient church, and discovered a great collaborative friendship with my friends Richard and Fred. Renewed friendships also abounded as my good friend, Celena, and I picked up where we left off and have carried on. I found my passion for writing renewed and provided a venue with an opening at Infuze as a reviewer. This opening has probably afforded the greatest opportunity thus far as well as a great new friend in Matt Conner.

Obviously, there was a lot of good in the year and we are so very thankful for those times and people. God has truly blessed us with so much and we cannot say thanks enough.

Yet, even in the good times, a little rain must fall. 2006 saw the pulling back of certain friendships as well as continued dissonance with the insitutional church as a whole. Those two issues have certainly left an asterisk on the year, leaving me with questions. Friendships, I understand, will come and go as life ebbs and flows. Life situations will draw people together and apart as the time goes. I understand this but it still doesn't assuage the sadness within at the passing of the baton.

Yet, perhaps the toughest thing in the past year has been my struggle to come around to pushing ahead, to doing something. Renewed fervor for the church has eluded me yet I realize that to truly be whole it is something I need to dive back into. In addition to that struggle, I'm more and more convicted and convinced that 2007 is to be our year to strike out at the injustices of the world, offering our finances, support, and prayers to fighting for whatever causes we can, local and global. 2006, in hindsight, was a year spent in thought, cynicism, frustration, and busyness by and large and I aim to not make that mistake in 2007.

Review: How to Grow a Woman From the Ground - Chris Thile

Another review into the hopper. Great album from the Nickel Creek frontman.

How to Grow a Woman From the Ground - Chris Thile