The Blog of Sean

I haven't blogged for a long time...life tends to get crazy sometimes. Now that I have some mental space I want to share a journey with you. Life changes you...you have a choice to pick how you react to life. Often it is between a choice that will bind you and a choice that will free you. I'm not saying one is good or bad because life is rarely black or white. People sometimes pick choices that bind us for the sake of a loved one; like a mother to a child. Parents will financially bind themselves for the sake of giving their children a good life, for example. On the contrary, people sometimes will pick choices the free us for the sake of themselves. For example, someone might do something for themselves as opposed to spending their money on someone else. Both of these choices have good results. The parents are alleviated that the children have a chance at a good life and the person feels rejuvenated that they treated themselves first. I think life is a dance of choices that free us and bind us.

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a quarter note is half of a half note and twice as much as an eighth note.
A whole note is a quarter note four times over.
What is a sixteenth note?http://pluto.matrix49.com/15759/subpages/joe-Musical_Note-small1.jpg

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I think that I think because I think.

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CD Review:
"Savior: Celebrating the Mystery of God Becoming Man"

This is a good album to add to your Christmas Music collection. This album has twelve songs that sing about the Incarnation and the mystery surrounding who God is and salvific beginnings and Christ's earthly ministry. The youtube post is Bob Kauflin (producer and song writer) talking about why they created this CD. I have read reviews of people who have used these new Christmas songs in there worship services and it has been very inspirational and reflective. It grabs you at the heart of what Christmas is all about. Take this time to watch the youtube clip and then read on.

"Savior" is done really well musically. One of my favorite tracks is the redux of the Weslyan hymn, "Glory Be To God". The music serves the beautiful lyrics very well with an up-beat tempo and celebrative mood. Most of the songs have some great acoustic guitar playing and contemplative piano playing that takes you to a place of awe, celebration and wonderment. Another highlight is a beautiful cello part in "Salvation Is Born" which backs up the beautiful voice of Shannon Harris singing about the arrival of the Messiah. The music is inspirational serves the the texts of the songs intimately.
Most of the songs are new songs which talk about the Incarnation. The songs are written very well. My favorite song is the first track, "Christ the Lord is Born Today". The lyrics explain the joy and awe that is associated the virgin birth of Christ in a beautiful, flowing manner: "How my happy heart rejoices/I can hear the angels voices/'Christ is Born' they all are singing/from the sky this good news bringing/Let the earth rejoice/O come and lift your voices."
The production is done well. It is a professional recording with great keyboard sounds and well balanced instrumentation. The only negative thing I have is that the drums sounded too "canned" and digitized and a few voices had a bit too much reverb to them. But everything else was great.
Overall, this is a great album and worth downloading off of itunes ($9.99).
I will certainly enjoy this CD over the Christmas holidays.

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Good music is hard to find.
It is nourishment for the days grind.

Good coffee is always a plus,
it keeps you awake through all the fuss.

Good friends are necessary to find,
they keep you from being blind.

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Sitting on a couch in a dark room,
contemplating the days groove
no snow tires yet, I don't approve.
my sick fish are awaiting their impending doom.

Music awaiting to be composed
up to me, I suppose.
Life is interesting; it is a groove.
Syncopated....I approve.

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Could imagine getting a small piece of a song stuck in your head for weeks and weeks? Or how about a few notes? What if those notes were really high in pitch and loud and it was stuck in your head and there was nothing you could do about it? Imagine how your life would change. Every time your brain is inactive you good an incessant note from a piccolo lodged in your brain that you can't get rid of. Or maybe you have piano music stuck in your head and it is very beautiful and you learn piano and and start composing and become an amazing pianist. In fact, you get so obsessed that that is all you think about when you are not working. You get divorced and become completely self-involved in your music and playing the piano. These are all true stories of people that have had brain injuries (frontal lobe) and have developed musical symptoms from it which are completely unexplainable. I am reading a book called "Musicophelia" by Oliver Sacks and so far it has been very interesting. It basically talks about people with brain injuries that have music playing through there head all the time or that the brain has rearranged itself after a traumatic experience to be completely bent on music. The reason why this is so interesting is because this hasn't happened with any other art form or the likes as often as it has with music. So Sacks essentially gives a lot of examples and poses the question: Does this happen because of a neurological oddity or is there something about music that makes it so powerful and mind-grabbing? I am only on chapter seven and I have a more than a dozen left but so far I think it will be a good read. I will let you know more about but for now, the next time a song pops in your head think about how it got there and why had no control over it.

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