matmusic ministries

I was recently challenged by David Crowder over at his blog to try a fun little game. (Check the write up here.)

The gist is to put your iPod (or other inferior music player) on shuffle for ALL songs and list the first ten songs that come up in order. The catch is that you have to be completely honest…no padding your stats.

Below is my list with some needed explanations.

1. 32 Footsteps
by They Might Be Giants
from They Might Be Giants (Self Titled) aka The Pink Album
I’m glad that a song by one of my very favorite bands of all time came up in the list…and the first song is even more perfect. This particular song is not the greatest but it is from TMBG’s first album which is cool.

2. Hold On
by The Maccabees
from 21st Century Spin
The Maccabees are a Christian band that I know very little about. I heard one of their songs, Run For Your Life, on the local Christian rock station and liked it. So when I saw their album on clearance at Mardel, I jumped on it. They have a cool, UK rock sound so it was worth the $3.

3. Longtime Sunshine
by Rivers Cuomo
from Alone: The Home Recordings of Rivers Cuomo
Mr. Cuomo fronts the ever popular Weezer. He seems to be a fun-loving and immensely talented artist who writes some crazy and unique music. In late 2007, he released an album of some concept songs. Some were good, some not; this one is catchy with some strange clarinet accompaniment.

4. Creep
by Radiohead remixed by Panzah Zandahz
from Me & This Army: Radiohead Remixes
I first heard one of these remixes while streaming the great KEXP out of Seattle (www.kexp.org) and absolutely had to have the album. This song features a robot playing the part of Thom Yorke.

5. Blackest Year
by Nada Surf
from The Weight Is A Gift
This one comes from one of the better albums of 2006 by a longtime Indie Rock mainstay. Too bad this song has the F bomb prominently featured in it’s chorus…it’s not indicative of the rest of the album.

6. James K. Polk
by They Might Be Giants
from Dial-A-Song: 20 Years of They Might Be Giants
I do have a lot of TMBG on my iPod but I am surprised two of their songs made the list. This song is a great history lesson about the overachieving president. And the fact that a singing saw performs the solo…perfect. This album would be a great pick up for a TMBG newbie.

7. Face to Face
by Daft Punk
from Discovery
What can I say about techno pioneers? Some would say, they are the start of techno. This song is from their second, excellent release.

8. Not To Us
by Chris Tomlin
from Passion: Sacred Revolution
This is one of my favorite worship songs of all time; an upbeat rocker with great lyrics. I’m glad worship is representing itself on this list.

9. Mercury Tears
by Chromeo
from She’s In Control
Montreal’s Chromeo brings back synth sounds of the 70s and early 80s in light-hearted and downright funny ways. This album is worth a listen if only to check the nostalgic, toe-tapping flow.

10. To Be Myself Completely
by Belle and Sebastian
from The Life Pursuit
This was a well-reviewed album by most accounts in 2007 but I much preferred their Dear Catastrophe Waitress album from a couple of years earlier.

So there you have it. So what is YOUR list…please share, I am itching to know.

By the way, I would also be interested to know how many total songs you have on your music player. This will help us all understand what percentage of total those 10 songs are.

For me, my iPod has 12,346 total songs at this point. So these 10 songs are only .08% of the total. Regardless, these 10 songs are a decent representation of my music tastes.

This will be infinitely more fun if you would respond in the comments below with your 10 songs. You don’t need comments, just list out the songs…and no embarassment allowed! Let me hear from you!

Just after 8 am on Saturday morning, I heard what sounded like a locomotive horn honk loudly outside of my house. I stumbled, pajama clad, out to find the following huge truck.

Can you say irony?

Today was the day that Camey Elementary recognized all the student who received awards at the recent UIL competition. This meant that Wyatt was honored with his third place trophy for storytelling. Read the complete write up of the competition here.

We were pleased to find out that Camey had the most top finishers of any school in The Colony. There were quite a few trophys on the stage to be given out.

Congratulations Wyatt! We are quite proud of our little scholar and hope to encourage more feats of mental strength in the future.

Those of you who read this blog regularly or have known me for more than one day know thay I love my Dallas Mavericks…have since I was old enough to care…even through the dismal early 90’s…even after a Game 6 Finals collapse at which I was present.

Whether you care or not, the Mavs made big news today when they traded for Jason Kidd (et. al.)

Yes, this is the same Kidd that was originally drafted second overall by the Mavericks in 1994 and then traded three years later because of a “personality conflict.” He has since gone on to have several off-court issues but an unquestionably great on-court career. What he has left, who knows.

Before this trade, one thing was becoming painfully clear…the Mavs needed a shake up. They were longshots, at best, at getting to and/or winning the Finals this year. Now, the chances are much better. The ticket is far from being punched, but that’s why we watch the games…I can’t wait.

Here is part two of the fun audio quiz about One Hit Wonders. (see below for part one)

I went 10 for 10 on this one also. Tell me how you did in the comments below.

http://mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php?q=201

I went 10 for 10…how well can you do? Tell me by posting a comment below.

http://mentalfloss.com/quiz/quiz.php?q=174

Last week was a significant birthday for my beloved mother. I don’t think she would mind me telling you that she has reached a round number of years that is above 50 and below 70.

Here she is with the kids as they feign the blowing out of the candles…seems I wasn’t ready with the camera when the candles were actually extinguished. But she, in her usual great-sport way, played along beautifully (I think she could have been a comedic actress.)

The night was filled with fun and burgers and laughing until we had to leave the table.

I love you, Mom, for all you mean to me…for all the prayers for me…for all the love…for all the support…and for who you are. Here are to many more happy years.

To the love of my life…Happy Valentine’s Day. I am so glad that God has blessed me with the most wonderful wife a man could have. When I prayed to God for a wife and family that would bless me, I didn’t even imagine a life this wonderful.

I would go out and get one of those “I love my wife” Promise Keeper’s bumper stickers but (1) I dont like putting bumper stickers on my car and (2) the people that drive behind me in traffic might think I just put it there for brownie points (so might you for that matter.) I’ll just use this piece of the internet instead.

I love you!

So, what’s the title HVD all about? As you may know I work at Cookies by Design (www.cookiesbydesign.com for all your Mother’s Day needs ) and have spent part of the last few days helping manage the incredible volume by working in a few of our shoppes. When writing out orders, every time saving tactic possible is used. Thus, abbreviations.
Happy Valentine’s Day becomes HVD
Thank You is TY
Happy Birthday = HBD
Dallas = D
I even saw one that stumped me…TTLOMY. I had to ask and was told “To the Love of My Life.” I guess there are a lot of those out there.

To all hopeless romantics, and those that will celebrate this weekend: HVD!

Kara and I immensely enjoyed our recent ski trip to Keystone and Breckenridge.

On Wednesday, we left home at 6:30 am and decided to travel through Kansas on the trip to Denver because of the threat of bad weather in southern Colorado. Do not take this route. (1) It’s incredibly boring and windy and (2) we still had to drive through snow and ice for the last hour of the trip. It was a bit trecherous but, thankfully, we made it to Trey and Danna’s house without issue.

You can see the blanket of snow around their house. We even missed their street on the first pass because when I applied the brakes to turn, we slid right past the turn.

The ride up to Keystone from Denver the next morning was also snow packed.

Danna did a great job behind the wheel of “The Goat.” Trey and Danna’s Toyota Land Cruiser is so called because it can climb anything. Despite it’s lack of a heater, it took us back and forth admirably.

Here is Kara bundled up for the ride to the slopes.

At long last, we arrive at beautiful Keystone. (Trey is absent…something to do with work or something.

The scenery at Keystone was beautiful

This beautiful stream runs near the base area.

Day one was cold though and we had to stop to let Kara warm her toes. She said the pain made her fear losing a toe or two. (It might have been the book on tape about the South Pole that had her thinking twice.)

We stayed one night in the city of Keystone at the Ski Tip Lodge. A quaint and romantic getaway.

While we were in Keystone, we were able to ice skate on a frozen lake. It was a hockey player’s dream. Kara had fun too.

The next morning view out of our window found even more powder. Great for us skiers.

I was so excited because I was able to get a new ski jacket from Old Navy for only $25. I also found some new ski pant on sale for $18. I could not have been happier that I got a whole ski wardrobe for under 50 bucks. My jacket, though, took the tree runs hard.

…or was it my bulging bicep?

Kara and I

Trey and Danna

The whole group (including Trey and Danna’s friend Jeremy)

We have returned from an exceptional trip to Denver and the ski slopes.

THANK YOU so very much to Nana and Sara for taking on the incredible and tiring responsibility of our three children (and coughing ones at that!) And to Mom for caring for our aging and stinky dog.

THANK YOU also to Trey and Danna for hosting us, feeding us and driving us.

I will post pictures after I catch up on two weeks worth of homework.