MP3 Inventory Baton

Passed to me from Chuck...

‧ Total volume of music files on my computer.

6.35 GB Christian
3.21 GB Classical
10.6 GB of Electronic/Dance/House/etc.
26.2 GB of everything else with a high content of alternative rock.

‧ Currently playing.

Carpe Diem Baby - Metallica

‧ The last CD I bought.

United - Look To You (2005)

‧ Five songs(tunes) I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me.

1. Delirious? - Majesty (Here I Am)
o Fell in love with it after listening to the "World Service" album. When I find some time I want to do an arrangement of this song and teach it to my church congregation. The one problem is that I find this song extremely hard to sing...especially in the original key that Martin Smith sings it in.

2. United - Salvation is Here
o Catchy intro: been listening to the entire "Look To You" CD a lot in general.

3. Sum 41 - 88
o Trying to learn the solo riffs on guitar.

4. Metallica - (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth
o Great bass solo by the late Cliff Burton. Took a big break from Metallica and now I'm going back through the old albums...

5. Vivaldi - The Spring: Allegro
o Very famous, very soothing. I love kicking back to Vivaldi's "The Four Seasons".

‧ Five people to whom I’m passing the baton...

Oops, I dropped the baton.

(my lame cop out because anyone who would read this has already been handed a baton...)

Civil Liberties vs. Security?

Unless you have been living under a rock or in a closet for the past few days you probably have heard the news about the various transit bombings in London. I've read the reports and seen a few photos (haven't seen the TV coverage because I don't watch TV) and it's just like 9/11 all over again. As cynical as this sounds, it was only a matter of time before another terrorist attack rocked another Western country.

It is interesting how a bus bombing in Britain generates a much larger and more sympathetic reaction than a bus bombing on the West Bank or in Iraq. We who live comfortably in our homes in Canada or the US are quite ignorant to the carnage and terror that occurs on a daily basis. I know for myself I hardly give a second thought to the millions of innocent people dying around the world everyday. Why do we give so much attention to the hundreds (maybe thousands) of innocent people killed or hurt riding the subway system and not the millions of children who die of starvation each day?

With security changes taking place, there are bound to be people complaining about the jeopardization of their civil liberties. "You can't install some x-ray scanner at the entrance of the subway system that allows the authorities to see through my clothes! That's a violation of my rights!" I don't think we can make any more progress in the freedom department without making ourselves more vulnerable on the safety side. Our "free democracy" permits lunatics to blow up trains because the authorities basically have to operate blindfolded with their pants down at their ankles and their hands tied behind their backs; all in the name of my privacy or my personal freedoms.

So the easy solution would be simple: take these freedoms away. Search houses without warrants, search people, tap phones, place surveillance on everyone. If you are obeying the law then you have nothing to hide. But, this only works if you happen to live in a country run by the perfect, benevolent, trustworthy government...if the world was perfect then everything would be fine. Unfortunately "honest government" is an oxymoron so this proposition will never work.

I agree that we need to do our best to combat terrorism; but in reality it's just an extreme form of international crime and the world will never be rid of crime. How do I know this? Call it a hunch, a gut feeling, or maybe just reading a book written a few thousand years ago. The "War on Terror" is just a glimpse of a larger, greater war that has be ongoing since the beginning of the universe. It's a war that manifests itself in our souls and spreads to the mind and body. What motivates a person to blow up a train or fly a plane into building? What motivates a person to risk their life to try to save someone trapped in a tunnel or building?

New Music

If I were to try and describe my musical tastes it would sound something along the lines of "mostly Christian praise & worship with a large helping of mainstream alternative rock (a tad on the hard side) and a side of electronic beats".

I'm sure everyone has heard/used the line "it depends on the mood I'm in"; and that may be true to a certain extent. Lyrically devoid hard house for late night study sessions, heavier rock/metal during exercise, classical music while driving (think Transporter...), and worship music when I want something to play along with.

A co-worker of mine lent me a CD wallet full of artists that I haven't heard of before. So I'm looking forward to going through them and seeing if there are any potential favorites that I can add to my list. The new-comers include Big Wreck, David Gray, Doves, Franz Ferdinand, Joel Kroeker, Keane, The Mars Volta, Modest Mouse, Pilate, Ryan Adams, The Shins, Starsailor, The Stills, Thievery Corporation, and Tool. I'll add them to my H320 and listen to them while travelling to and from work.

As for new mainstream music I have listened to recently, I have to say that I really like Coldplay's latest production, X&Y, and I like the acoustic side of In Your Honor by Foo Fighters. I've also gotten hooked on a lot of Hillsong and United Live thanks to my friend Chrissy. I would estimate 80% of what I have been listening to in the past few weeks has been United Live stuff.

(The song playing in the background is "Till I See You" by United Live off their new album Look To You)