Rules of the Game

Or, rather, odd rules that I seem to live by.

More particularly, music rules.

It seems that for certain songs, I almost involuntarily react a certain way when they come on the radio. I can't explain it. Unless it would almost certainly cause me physical harm, I have a reaction to certain songs. It's almost a rule.

Here's the ones on the top of my head I can think of:

-Hang on Sloopy, by the McCoys. When this comes on I have to do the O-H-I-O during the chorus, unless of course I am driving in heavy traffic or getting a haircut (almost made that mistake once)
-Livin' on a Prayer, by Bon Jovi. When this comes on I have to crank up my radio about as loud as it can go, and sing along with the chorus, usually at near the top of my lungs.
-Dare, by Stan Bush and You Got the Touch, by Stan Bush. Every time I hear this song, I start quoting random lines from Transformers: The Movie
-Bohemian Rhapsody, by Queen. Wayne's World reenactment, or at least as close as I can come.

I'm sure there are others, but that's all I can think of off the top of my head. Anyone else have this reaction to certain songs? If so, what are the songs and rules of your life?

iTunes Update

A little behind this month, but oh well. Let's see what we've got:

Top 25 Most Played:

1. Ellery - Anna
2. Fort Minor f. Styles of Beyond - Remember the Name
3. Pillar - For the Love of the Game
4. Stan Bush - You Got the Touch
5. P.O.D. - Alive
6. Switchfoot - Ammunition
7. Tom Petty - I Won't Back Down
8. Leeland - Hey
9. O.C. Supertones - Who Can Be Against Me?
10. Skillet - Collide
11. Thousand Foot Krutch - Rawkfist
12. Flyleaf - Fully Alive
13. Disciple - Rise up
14. Hawk Nelwon - Everything You Ever Wanted
15. Terry Cashman - Talkin' Baseball (Baseball and the Tribe)
16. Tom Petty - Free Fallin'
17. U2 - Pride (In the Name of Love)
18. 12 Stones - Lie to ME
19. P.O.D. - Change the World
20. Plain White T's - Hey there Deliliah
21. Skillet - A Little More
22. Deleriou5? - Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?
23. GRITS - Here We Go
24. Skillet - Rebirthing
25. Switchfoot - Meant to Live

New this Month

Robert Palmer - Addicted to Love

iTunes Update

May 1 ... let's see where we're at ...

1. Ellery - Anna
2. Fort Minor (f. Styles of Beyond) - Remember the Name (Clean)
3. Stan Bush - You Got the Touch
4. Switchfoot - Ammunition
5. P.O.D. - Alive
6. Pillar - For the Love of the Game
7. Tom Petty - I Won't Back Down
8. Flyleaf - Fully Alive
9. Hawk Nelson - Everything You Ever Wanted
10. O.C. Supertones - Who Can Be Against Me?
11. Skillet - Collide
12. Thousand Foot Kruth - Rawkfist
13. Tom Petty - Free Falling
14. U2 - Pride (In The Name of Love)
15. Disciple - Rise Up
16. P.O.D. - Change the World
17. Skillet - A Little More
18. Terry Cashman - Talkin' Baseball (Baseball and the Tribe)
19. 12 Stones - Lie to Me
20. Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah
21. Tait - All You Got
22. never|the|same - Lives of Grace
23. Leeland - Hey
24. Pillar - Bring Me Down
25. Skillet - Rebirthing


New this month:

Leeland - Hey
David Crowder Band - Here is Our King
Randy Newman - Burn On
The Toggs - Wild Thing
The Rolling Stones - Start Me Up
Delirious? - Did You Feel The Mountains Tremble?



as always, suggestions on things I may like based on this schizophrenic music list are always welcome ...

iTunes Update

So, I thought it could be neat to track my top plays and new adds to iTunes via my blog. I think first day of each month I'll post my top 25 most played songs, plus my new buys for the month. And maybe my 6 dedicated readers will give some tips on new bands, songs, and the such to listen to.

So here goes:

iTunes top 25 most played

Rank	Artist	Title
1.	P.O.D.	Change the World
2.	Ellery	Anna
3.	Skillet	A Little More
4.	12 Stones	Lie to Me
5.	Family Force 5	Love Addict
6.	Jars of Clay	Love Song for a Savior
7.	tobymac	Made to Love
8.	U2	Pride (In the Name of Love)
9.	The Beatles	Love is All You Need
10.	Fiona Apple	Criminal
11.	FM Static	Definitely Maybe
12.	P.O.D.	Going in Blind
13.	Pillar	Bring me Down
14.	Plain White T's	Hey There Delilah
15.	Skillet	Rebirthing
16.	Spoken	Time After Time
17.	Switchfoot	Meant to Live
18.	Todd Agnew	When Love Comes to Town
19.	Aaron Schust	My Savior My God
20.	Caedmon's Call	Love is Different
21.	Chicago	You're my Inspiration
22.	Jennifer Knapp	You're My Inspiration
23.	John Reuben	Hello Ego
24.	John Reuben	God is Love
25.	never|the|same	Expansive Love

Added this month:
Pillar - For the Love of the Game

How Did I end up here?

Well, I can't sleep again. This has been a regular occurrence this week. For a number of reasons. Today, I'm thinking it has a lot to do with the three Mountain Dews I drank today. Could be stress related. Could be a number of issues, some of which I frankly don't want to talk about.

Anyway, it inspired me to do a blog. And I wanted to include a song lyric in this blog. And I didn't think I'd have trouble finding the song lyric I was looking for. I just figured I'd go to www.letssingit.com and look it up.

Of course, I couldn't remember the Artist's name, so I had to search by song title. And as you'll see when I post the song, the song title gave me approximately eight bajillion results returned. So that didn't help much.

So, I thought I'd look up the way I found the artist. Originally heard him when I was working security at Alive Festival in 2001. So I tried google and wiki and answers.com searching for Alive Festival 2001 in all sorts of ways.

And I got nothing out of it.

Luckily for me, I remembered the wayback machine on archive.org. So, I used that to load the old Alive website for the 2001 festival, and was able to find his name.

Of course, my search couldn't end there, as the song I was looking for wasn't listed on his artist page. So I googled his name. Found his official site (which had nothing at all on it but a logo) and his MySpace (which gave me nothing), and so I was forced to go back to google and go through fan sites and the such, until I finally found the song and lyrics I was looking for.

And, so, without further delay, I give you Riley Armstrong's "Sleep":

looking straight at the light
it never used to be that bright last night
but it's a new day with fuzz in my eyes
alarm is still ringing when I open the blinds
how do these people do it
they are like driving around like there's nothing to it
I imagine it's like the medication their on
or probably just the coffee but
one thing is certain in life
and that is that today I'm going to eat cereal
I mean come on let's get our priorities straight
but before I know it I'm out the door late
just trying to catch some rat or some race
or something I'm not quite sure what it is
so for now I just best keep moving
and by nine a.m. my brain and my body
finally decide to meet
and we come to the same conclusion as yesterday
that I never get enough sleep

{chorus}:
sleep, no I never get enough
always waking up tired
sleep, no I never get enough
if I don't show up I might get fired
sleep, no I never get enough
always waking up tired
sleep, no I never get enough
if I don't show up I might get fired

they call it commuting
but I think they should call it intravenous
cause it's what I need every time I get
stuck behind a truck, just trying to turn left
just trying to turn left, why are you trying to turn left
why don't you park your silly cube van
hop in I'll drop you off
cause at this rate we'll both be late
but I'd rather be late than sitting here doing nothing
and by nine a.m. my brain and my body
finally decide to meet
and we come to the same conclusion as yesterday
that I never get enough sleep

{bridge}:
sleep go on and sleep some more
sleep go on and sleep some more

Hope you enjoyed the lyrics. Not sure it was worth the effort to be found, but at least I found them.

Lost in Jesus

I know, a lot of churches and/or attendees of lots of different churches think they have the best worship band in the world. Or at least, best amateur worship band.

I would disagree with all of them, unless they are referring to jOURney. We have the best worship band in the world. Amateur or not. David Crowder and Chris Tomlin listen to R. C. Foshizzle for inspiration.

Last night they were on like nothing else. I found myself lost in Jesus and lost in worship as they played. It's an amazing feeling, being lost like that. And not a mindless lost, but somehow being totally aware of everything around you, and yet totally focused on one thing.

If you're too far from Findlay to actually check out Journey yourself and hear our awesome band, I'd encourage you to buy their first CD. "Lives of Grace" is an amazing song, and "Stoop a Little" has also become one of my favorites. Maybe you'll find your own favorite. They're only ten bucks. And the proceeds to go AIDS relief in Africa, including Blood:Water Mission, one of my favorite charities. And, I bet if you ask nicely, R. C. Foshizzle would even autograph your copy.

I'm not sure how this happened

I've come to a realization recently ...

somehow ...

I've become a mini-parrot head.

I've discovered the joy that is Jimmy Buffet's music.

I sing and dream of being in Margaritaville.

I long for my cheeseburger in Paradise.

I always know that it's Five O'Clock somewhere.

and I'm not really sure how this happened

Good Times and Good Music

So, last night I saw Ellery perform here in Findlay. They're simply amazing. They take a style that I wouldn't characterize as "my style" of music, and make it just an amazing performance that I enjoy like nothing else. The honesty in their songs, and in their voices, captivates me. I'd encourage everyone to go out and see them if they get the chance. A lot cheaper than most concerts, I'd imagine.

They were with a couple of "local" talents last night as well. The concert was a benefit to raise money for flood relief here in Findlay. Just a fun night. Good music. Probably not as talented as what you'd see at a concert sponsored by Radio U or at a big music hall, but it seemed more real. More true to what personal music should and could be.

I think I'm finally starting to appreciate the "independent" types of the world. The less refined acts. The beauty of heart and soul over pomp and circumstance. I dunno.

I've conversed with Rachel a few times about what a "dream concert" looks like. And most of the time, I'm naming a couple of big name bands to headline and seeing an awesome evening of music, performance, lights, pyrotechnics, etc. But I think at the moment my "dream concert" would be RC Foshizzle and the jOURney House Band and Ellery opening for Hawk Nelson.

That would be an evening I could enjoy.


Oh, and if you've never heard Ellery, here's my favorite Ellery song:

iTunes and Music

I love iTunes. I hate DRM and I'm often described as a copy-leftist, but I love iTunes. I love being able to buy just one song and be over-charged for it. I love that no longer do I have to shell out 13-18 bucks to buy a CD, when I only want 1-3 songs on it.

A little bit ago, I got a $30 iTunes gift card as a thank-you. To date, I've only spent about half of it. I've enjoyed the freedom to let a song come to my mind, let me think "I really wish I owned that song" and then go and buy it ... without actually spending a penny of my own money!

Anyways, I'll list the fifteen songs I've purchased, so you can get a taste for how odd my music likes are, then see if you can offer any suggestions for good songs I'd enjoy owning as well. Here they are, in order of when I purchased them:

1. Made to Love, by Tobymac
2. Searchlights (Indoor Soccer Remix), by Falling Up
3. Love Addict, by Family Force 5
4. Fully Alive, by Flyleaf
5. You Never Let Go, by Matt Redman
6. My Savior, My God, by Aaron Shust
7. Open Wounds, by Skillet
8. Anna, by Ellery
9. Your Owls Are Hooting, by Showbread
10. Time After Time, by Spoken
11. Rise Up, by Disciple
12. Everything You Ever Wanted, by Hawk Nelson
13. The Invisible Hook, by House of Heroes
14. Remember the Name, by Fort Minor
15. Pride (In the Name of Love), by U2

C-Bus

So, I'm in C-Bus for the week, taking pre-liscensing courses for the job I'll be starting soon.

The pros of being in C-bus:

• RadioU (new Skillet, Demon Hunter, and Pillar songs ROCK, and I get to hear LA Symph, something I NEVER get back home)
  
• One step closer to employment
• Access to Skyline and Chipotle (haven't had any yet though)
  
• Mountain Dew in the fridge

The Cons of being in C-bus:

• Rachel's not here :(
• Classes are LONG and BORING (8 hours a day)
• No money for Skyline and Chipotle, even though their pretty close
• Traffic

Still, all-in-all not a bad trade-off. can't wait to get back to Findlay, but I'm really enjoying RadioU and really enjoying the thought of "hey, I could go get Skyline if I want"

Oh well.