Bag of Randomness

  • I remember roaming the library in elementary school and always being intrigued by the “Where The Wild Things Are” book only to be disappointed and a bit confused when I opened it up.  But I have to admit that the movie has caught my attention even thought I have no desire to see it.
  • One thing that makes the commercial so appealing is the song “Wake Up” by the Arcade Fire.  That song was also the song U2 walked on stage to at the beginning of all their Vertigo concerts.
  • The U2 concert is tonight at JerryWorld.  I want to describe my emotions, but I can’t.
  • Earlier this year, or maybe it was last year, the Miss USA pageant had that bit of a controversy with the conservative  Miss California answering a question from the flamboyant Perez Hilton.  Now the Miss America pageant is going to have Rush Limbaugh as a judge.  I may be the only person that finds this a bit interesting.
  • I heard Joe Buck ask Troy Aikman, “Can you imagine what Tony Romo is going through . . .”  I’m thinking if anyone could imagine what Romo is going through it’s Troy Aikman.
  • I’m not sure who would have ever drafted Austin Miles to be on his fantasy football team, but whoever did had one heck of a day.
  • 50 years of space exploration
  • Someone on The Amazing Race confused Jackie Kennedy for Queen Elizabeth.

  • U2 travels in a very nice jet

    Something that I will experience tonight

Posted in Personal, U2 | 2 Comments

U2, Faith without the Christian rock label

U2 has a respected and admired career in rock ‘n’ roll, a type of music notorious for rewarding artists who sing about more base things than the world and one’s place in it.

The band — or in some cases just frontman Bono — has played pop star, pariah, prodigal son and proselytizer. But the spirituality coursing through 30 years of U2’s music has never earned U2, who play the Toyota Center on Wednesday, the tag of Christian rock band, a stigma of sorts in mainstream music. The band has deftly kept its spiritual and secular sides in proportions that wouldn’t limit its reach.

Greg Garrett, a professor at Baylor University and author of We Get to Carry Each Other: The Gospel According to U2, suggests Christian rock has become a toxic phrase in pop “for a good reason. We have Christian art in which the art is less important than the Christian part.

“U2’s beliefs filter into their work, but that’s not their primary reason for making music.”

The Rev. Genevieve Razim, associate rector at Palmer Memorial Episcopal Church, says, “as an Episcopalian, I always had a hunch that cool and Christian were not mutually exclusive; U2 affirmed that for me.

“There were so many messages from the media that being a Christian meant being rigid and square and intolerant, and here was this rock band asking bigger questions and expressing their faith.”

So the band has for years made songs about peace, justice, spirits and mysteries, and done so in a way that suggests an inclination toward elevation, from its early use of psalms to a panoramic worldview today.

Full Houston Chronicle Article

Posted in Pop Culture, Spiritual, U2 | Comments Off on U2, Faith without the Christian rock label

The map that changed the world

The Waldseemuller map was drawn 15 years after Columbus first sailed the Atlantic and is responsible for how America got its name.  There’s some other interesting tidbits about it, read about it here.

launmapchgworld

Posted in Interesting | Comments Off on The map that changed the world