YONDER BREAKS

A friend told me yesterday that weakness is a choice... How true.

I used to be a huge Emery fan, ranking them probably at number 3 or 4 in my top five bands. Their CD "The Question" is still incredible, featuring fantastic songs like this one: "The Question" is a complete album -- from start to finish it just feels solid -- and these are my favorite albums to listen to. Another example of what I'd call a "complete" album is House of Heroes' "The End is Not the End." Check that one out...it'll blow your mind. Emery followed up "The Question" with "I'm Only a Man," which dealt a lot with struggles men of my parent's generation go through. I'm not exactly sure what Emery was saying with that album (sometimes it seems they excuse a lot of the failures that that generation is becoming known for), but it still got me through a tough time where I became disillusioned with my father's generation. Maybe that's why I like the album so much...good stories that are rel...

I recently had a conversation with some friends about selfishness... I was a bit surprised, but also not so much so, that they unanimously agreed that selfishness and looking out for yourself is the best way to live. I think Katt Williams based a stand up show on the same concept with something like, "You gotta look out for the number one pimp" (couldn't find a direct quote for that). I couldn't think of much to say in rebuttal that didn't draw a direct reference from the Bible, and seeing as the Bible wasn't necessarily a trusted source with these guys, I chose not to. A friend reminded me today, though, that the Bible is a source just like any other, and I should never be afraid to use it. It's true, and I regret it. Never be afraid to drop some truth on people, right? However, something that did pop in my mind, that I wish I had mentioned, was the amount of devastation I've seen selfishness do to families all over the country in the past few y...

Today, while at work, I listened to a recording of the last Five Iron Frenzy concert I ever saw, which was in Jacksonville, Florida on their Winners Never Quit farewell tour. It was a great trip I got to share with Jason Epstein, his mom and Jessie Rumph. We skated Kona (the greatest skatepark I've ever been to) and a smaller park that was very awesome as well. We also listened to Slick Shoes' "Far From Nowhere" right before our tire went flat and Jacksonville's highway patrol happened to drive by and help re-inflate it for us. Thanks Jacksonville! Here's a video of Five Iron Frenzy's "Every New Day" from their last show ever. In my Jacksonville recording, Reese Roper gives a great explanation of the song before they perform it; and afterwards everyone sings "I Love You Lord" and "As the Deer Panteth for the Water." Then, people in the crowd began to pray for FIF. As I listened to the recording, I was taken back to that p...

I've been fortunate enough to meet, on separate occasions, two unlikely rappers in my life. The first was a guy I used to work with at Baskin Robbins. He was a white guy in his mid-20's (I'm going to go ahead and apologize for any stereotypical remarks I make in this post, but you have to acknowledge that most stereotypes are there for a reason...) who dressed sharp and took his job seriously, even at Baskin Robbins. A little bit shorter than average, his hair was slicked back and he spoke properly. Then, one night as we were closing, he told me he did a rap demo with two other guys that was going to be on the radio. We stayed a little late so I could hear it and it sounded good. He told me about the time he sang karaoke and had the whole place jumping -- it seemed he had skills. This was the same guy who, when a typical middle-class family (complete with 2.5 kids) walked in, said, "That's going to be me one day." Not what typical main-stream rap songs are...