Matt Jones' Random Acts of Verbiage

Please see the initial post on the family book and cd/dvd exchange so you will have an idea on what this is all about.

March – Pilgrim at Tinker Creek by Annie Dillard and First Circle by Enter the Worship Circle
April – The Red Violin and Hallelujah! the Welcome Table: A Lifetime of Memories with Recipes by Maya Angelou.

The month of May came a bit late for me, but with it came the selection from my sister Erin. She choose to send around The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures by Anne Fadiman and Remember We Forget by Late Tuesday.

I didn’t have enough time to read the book, but it did look pretty interesting. The just of it is a little girl of a refugee family from Laos is diagnosed with severe epilepsy and there are many conflicts introduced because her family only speaks Hmong which the small hospital in California was not ready for.

Lia’s parents and her doctors both wanted what was best for Lia, but the lack of understanding between them led to tragedy.

Sounds like a pretty interesting and sad saga. One interesting thing: my mom was in the hospital the other day and on the wall they had all the translation services and Hmong is now being offered as a translation service. Hopefully I will pick the book up some time and have a go at it!

The CD I actually talked about in my post on Late Tuesday. If you want to read up and hear some stuff from that CD, head over there. Also, I went to their show and have posted some pictures from Late Tuesday’s show at The Q in Seattle. Since I posted songs from Remember We Forget in the other post, I thought I would post two songs from their first, self titled, album.

just another day.
breathing out and breathing in.
put on the same old jacket.
step out the door.
and no birds are singing except the ones inside your head and they sing oo oo-oo oo-oo sha na na…

[chorus] this is no ordinary day, no ordinary life i’m living.
this is no ordinary day, no ordinary life i’m living.
for you appear to me in the ordinary…

just another day.
holding the hand of one you’ve loved for thirty years.
late tuesday or thursday afternoons blurring together like watercolor lines.
and no one is singing except the voice inside your head and it goes oo oo-oo oo-oo sha na na…

[chorus]

it’s just another day just another step in this maze we call our own.
a trip to the store same people around the routine sometimes gets old.
it’s the same old same old for msot of us.
a walk in the park [yeah, if i had time].
it’s breaking my back for one little dime that keeps bread on the table and life in my eyes.
but you love these things that most would despise.
you love these things that most would despise.
that’s not very ordinary…

[chorus]

118 (4.25MB):

i was pushed back and about to fall but the Lord helped me.
He is my strength and He is my song, He has become my salvation.
i tried my hardest to trust in myself futilely.
in my anguish i cried to the Lord.
and He answered me by setting me free…

[chorus] the Lord is with me and i will not be afraid.
what can man and all his ways do to me…

His love endures forever…

[chorus]

I hope I get my June selection soon…
Shalom

I saw the (quite) lovely ladies of Late Tuesday tonight (6.10.05) at The Q Cafe. They put on an awesome show, I might even have to go see them in Burlington tomorrow at Common Ground.

Please see my previous post on Late Tuesday for more information and a few of their songs. Or you could just head over to latetuesday.com.

I took some pictures and have posted them here. They aren’t the best quality as I don’t really like to use the flash that often at concerts like this one because I feel that they are a bit distracting. If I go tomorrow night, maybe I will get some better shots.

Here is a quick video clip (5.94MB).

Clicking the following pictures will take you to a gallery or you can view them by “Reading full blog entry”.

Sam Ashworth with Sixpence’s Matt Slocum opened for Late Tuesday
	Late Tuesday is Dana Little (vocals, keys), Tara Ward (vocals, guitar, keys) and Jocelyn Feil (vocals, guitar) of Bellingham, WA.

Enjoy and shalom.

Catchy title, eh? Of course that isn’t true, for one, Beethoven is dead, and two, his music is being given out for free!

I thought I would bring you all a little (more) culture this evening with some music links from the BBC (h/t to Donald Sensing). BBC Radio is offering free MP3 downloads of some of Beethoven’s symphonies. Currently you can download: Symphony 1, Symphony 2, Symphony 3, Symphony 4, and Symphony 5 with four more to follow. All the symphonies are performed by the BBC Philharmonic and conducted by Gianandrea Noseda.

Please, enjoy.

UPDATE: Symphony 1-5 have been removed from their site. If you want the files, email me and I can send them to you.

Technically, this is part of my Family Book and CD/DVD Exchange for May, but since I haven’t even looked at the book yet, I thought I would post on Late Tuesday right now.

Let me introduce you to Dana, Jocelyn, and Tara of Late Tuesday, a trio out of Bellingham, WA. Of course, I don’t actually know them, but really, that is who they are (at least that is what their website and CD info told me!). You think I have a chance with Dana? She is cute!

I was recently introduced to them by Erin and have enjoyed their heartfelt harmonies. Being male, as I am, some of the lyrics I can’t relate to, but they are still well written with great music behind them. The combination of their voices, piano, electric and acoustic guitar make for some good tunes.

Here are a few tunes of their most recent album: Remember We Forget.

To Not Be Let Down (3.39MB):

Lord only knows what you’re going through
Lord only knows how deeply you’ve been bruised
and i cannot tell you how much i am sorry
i wouldn’t wish this hurt on any friend
and all i can do is say that i’ll pray
and that i am glad i know you today
words might do little to ease your mind
’cause they are what caused so much pain at the time
so this is the least that i can offer
Lord only knows what you’re going through
just trying to keep going got stuff to do
but nothing in what’s happened seems fair
so you keep moving on and healing will come
it comes along
until then may friendships hold you together
words might do little to ease your mind
’cause they are what confuse things all the time
so this is the least that i can offer
picture God in all His glory He’s holding you still
and He loves you without end
picture heaven in its splendor
it’s nothing like this earth
where your love will not be let down

Simply Beautiful (2.72MB):

i can’t wait for you to give in to love
i can’t wait wait for you to get what you’re made of
won’t that change everything
won’t it make life more than it has seemed
won’t you see you weren’t made for nothing
you are beautiful
and i know you well
but i can only do so much for you
and i would do it all if i could just show you truth
you are beautiful

23 (3.25MB):

save me from wandering
carry me home
make me lie in pastures green
restore my soul
guide me on righteous paths
though i walk through shadows of death
i will fear no evil here for you are here with me
comfort me as i lay
prepare a table for me
surely goodness and love will follow me
all the days of my life
and i will dwell in the house of the Lord forever

Good stuff, eh? If you want to buy some of their stuff (which I need to do!) head over to the Late Tuesday store. I have heard their Christmas EP rocks too. You could also sign up for their newsletter to download “exclusive” songs (including their awesome rendition of Alison Krauss’ Down to the River to Pray (3.19MB)).

They are playing over at The Q Cafe in Seattle this Friday (along with Sam Ashworth and Matt Slocum from Sixpence None the Richer), anyone want to go listen?

Shalom

EDIT: See pictures from their June 10th, 2005 concert at Seattle’s Q Cafe.

I feel like I don’t know what to write about, like I am in a dry spell. Actually that probably isn’t true, there is tons of stuff I want to write about (hopefully look for a post on Bill Whittle’s latest essay soon), I just haven’t felt like taking the time to do the research to do the actual write up. I think it is just me being lazy. It happens I guess, it will pass.

If you are just cruising by, feel free to take a look around, leave a comment or two. I am sure there must but at least one post that would interest you! So go find it!

I went to the Mariners game last night with Mom and Bob, they lost, figures. [Sarcasm]I hear Tampa Bay is pretty hard to beat! [/Sarcasm]

I hope everyone out there in blogland is doing well in this thing called “real life”. Hopefully I will post something more intelligent soon!

Shalom

In Bible Study we have been talking about prayer. We decided to do a “Prayer Triathlon” where we did prayer in ways that we may not normally do. It was “designed” to take us out of our comfort zone and hopefully experience God in a different and meaningful way. We did prayer through scripture, written prayer, and communal prayer. We did each “event” for 20 minutes which I thought was perfect. Often in communal prayer it feels like we try and rush through it so we can get on to the next thing. Setting a specific length helped us relax and just pray what we needed to pray. I thought I would post my written prayer. I have never written my prayers, ever. This is a first attempt that was good for me, I think it helped me stay focused on God instead of having my thoughts all over the place. Be kind, my heart is on my sleeve for this one! It is kind of a streaming of consciousness thing. I hope it is an encouragement to you to try something new to bring you closer to God.

God, this is a time to write our prayers to You. This is difficult for me as I don’t write very often, but I suppose it is good to get some thoughts down on paper. Prayer has always been difficult for me as I get distracted easily. This is good because it helps me focus on You. God I just pray that you would send Your Spirit to guide me. I mess up so often and You are so gracious to me in my failures. While I have gone astray you have still given greatly to me, much more than I deserve. You truly are bigger than anything I could imagine and yet You walk along side me every second and never leave me. Even if I have strayed from your will, you are still there to help me back when ever I realize my misstep. I pray that you would give me the courage to live the life you have given to me and not try to be anything apart from You, deceiving myself into thinking I have done anything of my own cognition or apart from You. You have given much – all praise and glory are Yours and Yours alone. I pray that you would grant wisdom to those making tough decisions, courage to those feeling scared, strength to those feeling weak, peace to those feeling anxious, rest to those feeling tired and that we would recognize You as the one who bestows these gifts to the ungrateful and undeserving, myself included. Thank you for sending Your Spirit. Amen.

Shalom