i could be brave

Friday, April 16, 2004

Random Song List #1

Categories: Life • Music • Religion

I was looking through some other blogs a few months ago and one of the posts most interesting was where a person set their iPod on random and then just typed out the first 10 songs that played.  I like odd numbers so I decided to write down the first 13 songs that played while my iPod was on random.

#. Song - Artist - Album - (My rating out of 5 stars)

1. Two Step (Live) - Dave Matthews & Tim Reynolds - Live At Luther College (Disc 2) (***)
2. Eyes Wide Open - Sixpence None The Richer - Divine Discontent (****)
3. In The Bleak Midwinter - Paul Coman Trio - City On A Hill: It’s Christmas Time (**)
4. Little Drummer Boy - Jars of Clay - Little Drummer Boy (***)
5. Caroline, No - The Beach Boys - The Absolute Best Volume 2 (**)
5. The Black Rider - Howard Shore - The Lord Of The Rings - The Fellowship Of The Rings (****)
6. Whatever You Say - Over the Rhine - Films For Radio (*)
7. Sunny Days - Jars of Clay - Who We Are Instead (****)
8. I Can’t Catch You (Ben Grosse Remix) - Sixpence None The Richer - I Can’t Catch You (Single) (**)
9. Ecumenical - Black Eyed Sceva - 5 Years, 50,000 Miles Davis (***)
10. Leela - Mark Sumner - Marathon Resurrection Soundtrack (**)
11. S.O.S. (The Crush of Velvet Glove Starlight) - Vigilantes Of Love - Summershine (*****)
12. The Patron - Aaron Sprinkle - Really Something EP (*)
13. Ooh, That Girl - Dakoda Motor Co. - Welcome Race Fans (****)

The list ended with a very old song.  Dakoda Motor Co. was one of the first rock bands I ever picked up.  I was pretty new to listening to music at the time and had read a review in a Christian music magazine called 7 Ball. I had never been terribly drawn to the stuff the kids in my town were into (mostly rap), and I was and still am a Christian so I was rather excited when I realized that there was Christian rock. 

Dakoda Motor Co. turned out to be pretty good.  I still enjoy a number of their songs.  Interestingly enough they were also one of the first Christian rock bands to try to completely leave the Christian music scene.  Peter King the song writer/guitar player handed out fliers at a concert one day proclaiming that alter calls and professions of faith were no longer their business.  They were musicians and their music was going to stand for itself.  I’m paraphrasing a bit but that is the gist of it. 

It didn’t really go very well for them and the lead singer, Davia Vallesillo, left the band.  After one album on Atlantic records with a new similar sounding lead singer they broke up.

Such is life.

Posted by Jamie at 07:15 PM
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Tuesday, April 13, 2004

Where I Live Part Two

Categories: Art • Life

So here is another panoramic of Angoon’s Front Street.  This one extends a little further to look across Chatham straight.  I grew up in Southeast Alaska so being able to look out and see the ocean is something I miss pretty badly when I’m not here.

Of course the other nice thing about a place like Angoon is also a bad thing.  If you want to get away, the solitude of the forrest or a deserted beach is right out the front door.  However, if you want to get all of your best friends together when you don’t feel like being alone?  Tough luck.  :)

Posted by Jamie at 01:38 PM
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Monday, April 12, 2004

Where I Live Part One

Categories: Art • Life • Religion

I guess I’ll tell you about the place I live in.  Its a native village quite literally in the middle of nowhere.  Angoon has a population of about 572.

As you may know I’m a teacher. I have 15 students in grades 2, 3 and 4.  The village is on an island (Admiralty Island) that has more brown bears per square mile than any other place in the world.  I’ll try to get some good pictures of the bears up sometime soon but they are not hard to find.  I bumped into three of them my first year here as I walked to the school I teach at.  My heart was pumping a little bit. 

Anyway the town can be quite beautiful at times, as most of Southeast Alaska can be.  The picture above is a panoramic shot I took during my first year in Angoon.  The houses you can see are along “Front Street” which is the site of the original native village.  You can see the edge of the elementary school I work at on the far right of picture.  It was a beautiful sunny day and one of those moments were you can almost feel God there watching you.  A zen moment I suppose, for those of you who aren’t into God.  I’m sure some more pictures will follow as I get the time to take them and put them up.

Posted by Jamie at 05:23 PM
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