Heart Like Yours

I haven't done this in a long time, but I felt like my readers would be missing out if I didn't.. and given the fact that it was released 4 months ago and I didn't even know it existed says this album needs some free advertising. I'm not much into reviews these days, but I'd like to say that this is a great album and encourage anyone to buy it. So here's my "Heart Like Yours" (SonicFLood) mini-review/plug.

I picked up this album at a Family Christian Bookstore down in the states during our trip down to Lebanon, Ohio. I honestly didn't know SonicFlood was still around and upon checking, found they aren't.. at least not the original Grammy-winning group. Rick Heil does deserve some credit though, as I felt the sound was similar to the original group. You can read up on it at Wikipedia if you're interested. I think of this album as old SonicFlood meets Chris Tomlin (but with a little more originality).

Lyrically the album is not particular strong, but the music itself seems catchy and original. I think it's fair to say this is the second best SonicFlood album ever made.

The Happiest Days of Our Lives

Reading Wil Wheaton's "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" really conjured up so many childhood memories for me. Several reviews I had read said that Wil's book has a nostalgic feel to it, making you think of your own childhood. They weren't kidding. I finished reading it just now, and I all I can think about are the little moments in life that are etched in my memory. He is definitely a great story teller, and because he's a blogger his writing flows as easily as reading a blog.. which probably explains how I managed to finish the entire book so quickly. I feel a little jipped actually.. wish it was twice as long.

I don't know Wil Wheaton nor do I care about him. I don't care about the things he faced or experienced in school and as a child. The truth is I couldn't care less. But he's such a great story teller and the way that he describes everything makes you think about yourself. About all the little things you did as kid, things that were so important to you but might not matter now as an adult. Rules to live by for a kid. And.. and being able to remember the things you really cared about, and mattered, and things you were so afraid of and things that annoyed you to your core as a child. And how innocent we all were, in our own little worlds.

I don't think I knew many kids who were as geeky as Willow Wheaton was. Sure I dabbled in Dungeons & Dragons during Chinese School, and yea I got picked on at school because I was puny. And yea I sucked at sports, and was constantly distracted by video games. I was also great at dodgeball, not so much because of my agility but because more because no one really paid much attention to me. I too, hated to be embarrassed in front of other kids, often hiding in a corner and crying about it. I too labored and gawked at the toy store, staring up at hundreds of action figures that I wanted but could only afford at most 1 per month, and considered saving up for a few months to get a big one. I too got board games for Christmas when all the other kids my age were playing Nintendo.

How do you play board games when you're an only child? You don't. So you develop an overly active imagination, start playing games left hand against right hand, invent different personalities in your brain so that you could pit one against the other. For 9 years, that's what I had to do. For years Wil played D&D all by himself.

I don't pretend to be the same as Wil. We're far from being the same, I was certainly not a child actor, although maybe a pretender. But reading his book really reminded me of things that I really loved and cherished. It's a great, short read and I look forward to reading more.

Review: David Crowder Bands' "Remedy"

I've gotten a chance to listen to David Crowder Band's latest CD called "Remedy" more. I mentioned earlier that this was a bad CD, as several have pointed out I said "to avoid it like the plague", but after listening to it several times I think I can give it much fairer review. We had been cramped and frustrated in a car, waiting in line at the US-Canada border the first time I had heard the CD, and therefore my previous assessment may have been a little too harsh.

By the way, if you're looking for a more scathing review of the album, check out CCM's take on it here. His review sounded a lot like mine for "A Collision".

I would say the fairest comparison is Crowder's breakout album, "Illuminate". "Remedy" has a lot of upbeat songs and there is a heavy use of computer effects and electronics. Best way to describe most of his songs are that they are "busy". If you listen to track 7 you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. If you're into that kind of thing you'll like this album a lot. They do a good job of not going too over the top with it, and mix it well with the usual band instruments. The first time you listen you might think it's a bit much -- but it grows on you.

One thing evidently missing from this CD are useless tracks of people walking up and down stairs, or whistling, or a phone conversation. That's a good thing. Little interludes like that bring no value to an album and fortunately for us, "Remedy" has none of these fillers. (Remedy is nothing like A Collision).

The music in "Remedy" sounds fresh because it doesn't follow the usual Christian Music formula that all the other worship leaders follow. It's very different and feels "new" -- although not necessarily ground-breaking -- but at least it's not that 'same old thing' feeling with some other bands. The caveat is you can't really play any of the songs at church for worship.

Creativity (8/10) - David Crowder Band pushes the envelope when it comes to creativity. There is no other band like these guys in the Christian music scene. There is a strong mix of electronic stuff in with the usual band repertoire, making their music much edgier than the other Christian bands out there. This however is the bane of the band, as CCM points out, you know these guys are capable of so much more but for some reason they prefer to just make really noisy songs.
Worshipability (7/10) - There aren't very many songs on this album that I could see our church ever using in worship. Personal worship is another story. Even singalongability is low on this album, I'm just starting to figure out the lyrics after hearing the album about 20 times.
Value (9/10) - I bought the CD in the US for $5 less than it would have costed me in Canada. So yea, it was a good deal. It loses one point because of a couple songs in the album that already existed in previous ones.
Longevity (8/10) - One thing I find interesting (or is it more annoying?) that David repeats himself in his songs, several songs he repeats the same line over and over to the point where I want to punch something. I can understand you want to emphasize a point by repeating it, but this is a bit too much for me. I could see myself becoming violent, but thank goodness for FastForward. Due to DCB's catchy tunes, I can see myself listening to this CD off and on for the next few months at least.
Intangibles (9/10)- It's a nice little case, and not a hard plastic one. It's paper but it's sturdy and it's thinner than the average CD case. It's also got a neat cover and a different slot for which the lyrics come out.

Overall: 41/50

Extra thin wallet

A few months ago I bought a wallet and reviewed it. I've been using this wallet for some time and I find it amazing that it's so thin. Sometimes I don't even have my wallet and I think I do because I've gotten used to its thinness.

This morning I found it extra thin.. to my chagrin, I had lost several pieces of my IDs. What a disaster. While I was in Vegas last week, I showed my dad this awesome wallet I had and all he had to say was "Look how loose it is, your cards are going to fall out!".

At the time, I only scoffed at him, but today my only response is: "Damn it.."

So, if you're looking to buy an ALL-ETT Billfold wallet.. watch out! One entire pocket emptied itself somewhere within the last 3 days. And I have no idea where I lost it.

:|

Knocked Up

Been looking forward to seeing this one for a long time now, finally had a chance last night. Went to see it with Ina after we checked out a bunch of restaurants for the wedding reception.

If I were to use one single word to describe this movie, I would use the word "awful". It's just a really bad movie, in every sense of the word "bad". The acting was a total disaster, but this isn't a big deal normally in comedies so I'll lay off on it.

In terms of the story, it was just bad. The character Ben Stone seemed to go from not caring at all, to pretending to be caring, and then not caring again, and then moments later he's in love. And then there was the subplot between the husband and wife that made very little sense, and seemingly really had nothing to do with the main plot. The story was predictable, yet not because you just couldn't believe these people could be so stupid.

So was it funny? There were definitely moments that I thought was really funny, but then there were also moments of complete raunchiness and nudity that I cannot even describe. This movie was borderline soft-core pornography, and I honestly can't remember hearing people say the F word so unnecessarily (as if there was ever a necessary reason to use the F word) as often as in this movie.

I just don't get it -- what's with all the vulgar language, does a script containing over 120 F-words really add any value to the movie? And the nudity? Why?

Speaking of value, we saw it on a Monday evening, which is probably my fault, but still.. we paid $24 for 2 people, which is insane. Had I known more about this movie before going in, I'm not sure I'd have watched it if someone paid me.

Plot/Story - 5/10
Acting - 5/10
Script - 2/10
Entertainment - 6/10
Value - 0/10

Overall: 18/50

Holding nothing back

This CD by Tim Hughes kind of fell through the cracks for me, probably because I spent so much time listening to the Hillsongs United studio album "All Of The Above", in preparation for the concert. In the end, they only played 2-3 songs from the album. The concert was amazing by the way. Check out Andrew's blog for details and a video.

What initially attracted me to this CD was the first track "Happy Day". I had been at Mitchell's with Ina to pick up some greeting cards when I saw the CD on the sample wall. You know, where you can sample the CDs. The first song was so great I had to have the album, so I waited til there was a sale and went and got it.

Unfortunately I've lost my hosting site and can no longer post MP3s as I used to. You'll just have to buy the CD yourself, unless someone's got any suggestions of where I can host my media.. or check out his website for some samples. (http://www.timhughesmusic.com/)

One thing I think that sets this album apart from his other stuff is that instrumentally it's just so much better. The music... fills the room better, if that makes sense. It's fuller, if that makes any sense at all. I'm not sure if I observed that in his previous albums. I mean, we've always known that Tim Hughes is a great songwriter. Lyrically he is solid, like Matt Redman. But musically I think this CD stands out because you can kind of get the sense that it was produced well and that they invested a fair amount of time into it.

Maybe he got better equipment, or his band has just gotten a whole better. Lyrically and musically the album is solid. I am just getting to know the other songs and discovering bit by bit how good these songs are.

Without breaking it all down, I give it 47/50. Go buy it.

A Wii Retrospective

It's hard to believe that I have owned a Wii for 7 months, because it feels like I haven't played it very much at all. In all honesty I haven't touched the thing in 2 weeks. I'm trying to think of the last time I played Wii by myself, as a form of entertainment (as opposed to a form of entertainING). I believe I haven't played it as a form of personal entertainment since.. well, February when I first got Wii Play.

Hard to believe that such a popular gaming system, one that continues to be difficult to obtain throughout the world, has completely lost its appeal to me. Although I do continue to look forward to Smash Brothers Brawl, my zeal for this gaming system has waned significantly. Yesterday in EB Games, I was lining up to pay for Guitar Hero for PS2. The guy in front of me had just picked up the last copy of Mario Party 8. Heck, I didn't even know it had come out. I could have easily lined up ahead of that guy if I had wanted one. (MP8 is probably one of the MOST sought after Wii games yet).

Now on one hand I'd fully admit that when it comes to entertainment, I am a person who loses interest in things rather easily, going from one thing to another, but to think that a few months ago I was trying to convince everyone how great and revolutionary it was and now, I barely even touch it. It's just a neat little white box on top of my speakers that collects dust.

The other day I spoke to Allan at church, he was explaining to me that the novelty has kind of worn off on him and he hadn't touched his Wii for a whole week.

Mind you, I think the Wii is a fantastic party system. But without company, I think this system is not nearly as great as everyone thinks. I haven't touched my XBOX360 in about 3 weeks either, so it's not like it's any more 'exciting' than the Wii. I have arguably the most popular game for it, Gears of War, and I haven't touched the system in 3 weeks. Think about that.

Meanwhile I haven't gone more than 48 hours without picking up the Guitar controller for the PS2. Guitar Hero games totally rock. All this talk about these next-gen consoles and here I am playing old-gen stuff. Just goes to show you how important graphics and cpu speed are -- not at all.

Just think, had I known all this today and not bought any of those systems, I'd be sitting at home, still playing Guitar Hero 2 (which I got for free), and be sitting pretty with an additional $1300 in my pocket. Such is the life of a gamer..

Sitting on an angle

If you're a guy and you're reading this, you know exactly what I'm talking about. You're sitting down into your car seat, office chair or couch and something doesn't feel right. You reach back and pull out your wallet and sit back down and aaaahhh.. what a relief. After years of sitting on an angle and trying every which way to eliminate the bulge in my right back pocket I found the perfect solution.

It's called the ALL-ETT™ Billfold. I was a little skeptical about the ability to reduce my 1.5-inch wallet thickness to nothingness. Last Friday I had the privilege to see a real spectacle. Frank from my small group had a wallet that was, no kidding, 3 inches thick. THREE INCHES. Thankfully Frank keeps that sucker in a front pocket. I can't even imagine what it might be like to attempt to sit on that beast..

I've tried everything, from switching from the tri-fold to the bi-fold, leather to cloth and then back to leather, and then removing all non-essential cards like the library card, the Optimum card, Air Miles, PEO card, the letters of the alphabet in sign-language card, Stamp Traveler's Club card, etc.

What ALL-ETT™ has done is, made the world's thinnest wallet with a revolutionary design made from a super thin material. The material actually comes from parachutes, it's super durable and ultra thin.



In this photo you see a regular wallet stuffed with 30 credit cards. Then there's the Billfold with the same number of credit cards. Simply amazing!

Review
I was surprised at how thin the wallet really was. It came in an envelope like any other regular mail. By itself, the thickness is comparable to maybe 3 sheets of paper. As I opened the wallet, I realized that this material is really quite cheap. It's very thin plastic paper, makes a crackling noise as you open. Not good. Next, I proceeded to empty out my regular lambskin wallet. I was able to stuff everything I had into the Billfold.

Sure enough, the Billfold with all my stuff in it was significantly thinner. In fact, with everything in the Billfold, it is actually thinner than my old wallet with nothing in it!