Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Ideal U2 concert set list

My ideal set list for a U2 concert, and in this order, would be:

Zoo Station
Hold Me, Thrill Me, Kiss Me, Kill Me
Vertigo
God Part II
Mofo
Elevation
Zooropa
Bad
Kite
Running to Stand Still
Dirty Day
One Tree Hill
I Still Haven’t Found What I am Looking For
Walk On
One
Pride (In the Name of Love)
Hallelujah Here She Comes
Desire
Lady With the Spinning Head
Mysterious Ways
When Love Comes to Town
Hawkmoon 269
With or Without You
The First Time
All I Want is You
Where the Streets Have No Name
Yahweh
40

Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Best Remakes of All Time

These are what I consider to be the best remakes of all time; meaning, the new version is better than the original:

Jimi Hendrix’s version of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower
U2’s version of Bob Dylan’s All Along the Watchtower
Stevie Ray Vaughn’s version of Jimi Hendrix’s Little Wing
The Soup Dragon’s version of I’m Free by The Rolling Stones
Blind Melon’s version of School House Rock’s Three is a Magic Number
The Blue Man Group’s version of I Feel Love by Donna Summer
Counting Crow’s version of Big Yellow Taxi by Joni Mitchell
Green Day’s version of I Fought the Law by Sonny Curtis and the Crickets
The Lemonhead’s version of Simon and Garfunkel’s Mrs. Robinson
Matthew Sweet’s version of the Scooby-Doo theme song
Smashmouth’s version of I’m a Believer written by Neil Diamond and recorded by The Monkees
Social Distortion’s version of Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash

Any others?

Friday, April 3, 2009

Few Biblical References in LOST

Did you notice how LOST loves to borrow names of famous people and use them as the names of characters in the show? Most I noticed on my own but several are also mentioned on lostpedia.wikia.com.

The references to famous philosophers are quite obvious: John Locke (duh), David Hume (Desmond), Jean-Jacques Rousseau (you know, the French lady), Edmund Burke (Juliet’s ex-husband), and C.S. Lewis (Charlotte).

But I have noticed some Biblical references as well. For example, Naomi referred to Jack as Moses. In the book of Exodus, Moses led the people of Israel out of slavery to freedom similar to Jack attempting to lead everyone off the island. Also in the book of Exodus, Moses and Aaron are brothers. Claire’s son, Aaron, is Jack’s nephew. Although not brothers in LOST, they are still closely related.

In the book of Genesis, Benjamin is the youngest son of Jacob and his mother, Rachel, died just after giving birth. Ben Linus’ mother died just after giving birth. Could the mysterious Jacob be some sort of father figure for Ben?

Probably the most obvious is that Jack’s father’s name is Christian and in the book of John, Jesus referred to himself as the Good Shepherd.

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Advent

Here is a piece that my friend Jason Tarka and I put together for Advent for Mosaic Church.


My Tribute to My Grandfather

I am honored to pay tribute to a man you knew as Travis P. Blue, but who I knew as “Papa”, or more affectionately called, “First National Bank of Grandpa.” I never told him I called him that.

I have many fond memories of Papa. I remember as a kid being amazed at all the things my Papa could do. I remember once my dad taking cans and throwing so that we could shoot at them. I was in awe how Papa could hit the can every time. It wasn’t until later I learned how a shotgun worked.

I remember going to visit Papa and he always had all the time in the world to spend with me. It wasn’t until later that I learned what retirement meant.

I remember when I would leave he would slip some money into my pocket. It wasn’t until later that I learned what federal government retirement meant.

I remember going up to my great-grandma’s house to go hunting. I remember getting up early and sitting in the blind up in the tree. Papa was sitting there very quietly and patiently – watching and waiting. I was sitting there freezing cold wondering when we were going to break out the hot chocolate we brought.

I remember one time my dad, Papa, and I all together got a deer, expect it wasn’t with a gun, it was with the front end of Papa’s El Camino.

I remember working out in the shed with him. I remember him making me a display case for my baseball cards. It was nice. It had a glass top with a lid that opened up and had carpet on the bottom. I was very impressed. He also made me some ninja nun chucks as well. Not sure what he was thinking on that one.

I remember one time he took some limbs and sticks and actually made me a bow and arrow. It was amazing. It actually worked. It worked so well I remember shooting an arrow up in the sky across the yard and was amazed how far I could get this backyard homemade bow and arrow to shoot. A few minutes later Mema walks back up from the garden with this long thin sharp stick in her leg. Papa then got another twig and shaved it. But this time it wasn’t an arrow it was a switch.

It wasn’t until now that I realized that these memories of Papa were much more than memories. They were moments of influence. They helped shape me to be the person I am today. I hope my life, more than my words today, honor him well.

There are many things about Papa that stand out to me that I wish to imitate in my life. I want to share 3 of them with you.

First, his devotion to and love for his wife. He was the epitome of a one-woman kind of man that the Bible describes as a qualification for an elder. Mema was his queen. I remember him always doing things for her. Mema knew it too. I remember one time at the cabin she fell and hurt her arm and insisted that she was ok. That is, until Papa walked in. Then she said, “Oh Travis I am hurt you have to take me to the hospital.” They left immediately back to Searcy.

Second, was his excitement for life. I never saw him in a bad mood, never saw him angry. He always up for anything. Anytime you said, “Hey Papa, you want to go do something?”, he would say, “well allright”. I remember a few years ago he, my dad, and myself went to an air show in Fayetteville. During one part of the show, a stealth fighter zoomed right overhead and then at almost 90 degree went straight up. Papa just watched that plane very intently, and then leaned over and said, “you think they’d let me ride in that thing?”

He also liked to work and that was a way that he enjoyed life. Finding satisfaction in his work. I was always amazed at the balance that he was able to strike between doing and being. He loved mowing his yard. He loved working in the garden. But equally he loved just sitting around in the living room talking.

Third, I want to imitate his love all people. Papa loved people and you always knew that people mattered most to him in life. Whenever you came to visit he always got out of his chair and greeted you at the door. And no matter which of my friends from college I brought by, in just a few minutes he could find a connection where he knew someone they knew.

When people around him were building garages that they kept closed, he had an open carport. When people were building large back porches and putting up fences, he had a swing in his front yard and no fence. Even these things communicated that his house was inviting and open to people.

Although not everything about Papa do I imitate. Papa loved to take honey and butter and mix them together and put them on his roll. I tried it for awhile and it was good but it just didn’t stick.

From his work with the children’s home to his helping Aunt Mazel, he modeled what a pure and undefiled religion looks like. As I sit teach my kids over the years of what it looks like to live like Jesus Christ, I will say to them, “Let me tell you about Papa.”

My Five Favs

Revolution – The Beatles: The fast version. Does anyone remember it in the old black and white Nike commercial? That commercial was my first introduction to the Beatles. My absolute favorite song of all time and I still to this day mess up the lyrics. Also, it is the only song that makes me feel like, no matter what’s happening, “it’s gonna be allright.”

Baba O’Riley – The Who: No other rock song conveys as much energy and emotion as this one! This song absolutely requires that you bounce your head along to Pete Townsend swinging his arm!

Where the Streets Have No Name – U2: Absolutely the best intro to a song ever! Is this song about a city in Africa or is it about Heaven? Ah, the beauty of Bono’s lyrics. This song makes me want to go out and make the world a better place.

Under Pressure – Queen and David Bowie: I have never heard a song that uses so many different musical and lyrical elements to communicate so many emotions in one song. In under four minutes, this song gets to the heart of what everyone wants out of life – to move from despair to hope, from loneliness to love, and from fear to faith.

Sweet Child O’ Mine – Guns ‘n Roses: Like Elaine’s boyfriend who loved Desperado, as soon as I hear the guitar intro of this song, everything around me comes to an immediate halt. This song both rocks but yet is sort of a ballad at the same time.

Recycling Confusion

The other day I received in the mail a recycling newsletter from my city. One article in the newsletter reminded me to save water and cut back on use as much as I can. Another article in the newsletter reminded me not to put any containers in the recycling bins if they still had any food product on them. I wonder if they city realizes how much water it takes to completely clean out peanut butter and chocolate syrup containers?

Sunday, February 1, 2009

Three Words

The friendliest word in the English language: "Hi"
The saddest word in the English language: "Bye"
The most important word in the English language: "Why"

Saturday, January 17, 2009

Tim DeLaughter: Modern Prophet

A good artistic representation of the postmodern search for meaning.

The Polyphonic Spree
"We Crawl"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1n90DdcoLgw

Friday, January 16, 2009

Good explanation of Govt bailout


This pretty much explains it all!

Thursday, January 15, 2009

Obama: name above all names

Thanks but if I have another boy, I'll stick with either Abe, Harry, or Ronald.

At one point, Obama saw a pregnant staffer.
"When are you due?" Obama said.
"Next week," she said.
"I hear Barack is a good name," he said.

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/achenblog/2009/01/obama_visits_post_newsroom.html

Sunday, January 11, 2009

Global Warming or Cooling?

I'm a little confused this morning. Does the future hold for us global warming or global cooling?

Earth on the Brink of an Ice Age

"The earth is now on the brink of entering another Ice Age, according to a large and compelling body of evidence from within the field of climate science. Many sources of data which provide our knowledge base of long-term climate change indicate that the warm, twelve thousand year-long Holocene period will rather soon be coming to an end, and then the earth will return to Ice Age conditions for the next 100,000 years."

http://english.pravda.ru/science/earth/106922-earth_ice_age-0