The Normals live on.......(sorta)

I usually don't talk about my old band The Normals unless somebody asks. I don't want to seem like that guy hanging out in Guitar Center playing dated riffs, saying things like "yeah I was in a band, we opened up twice for Head East." But I am proud of the records we got to make and the small influence we may have had on people who bought our records or came to our shows. Two weeks ago a genlteman from The Pantagraph did an interview with three of The Normals, myself included. My micrphone must have been cut because I spoke quite a bit but yet narry a quote from my mouth did the paper make. Anyway, here is the article. And if you are interested you can purchase our music at the iTunes music store. Heres a video clip of our one hit.

V for Vomit

I have not been in the most bloggin' mood lately so I will direct you to a co-workers review of V For vendetta. I have not seen the movie but I have heard others who share his sentiments. Talk at ya later.

Get ready to get Hammered.

I have had the worst flu this week, which is my excuse for the lack of posting. Here is an article that I thought captures what I feel the perception Hollywood has towards the "red" states. I didn't watch the Oscars but I did hear about Paul Haggis acceptance speech for Crash. Art is no longer considered "a mirror."

If Hollywood Had a Hammer

OK....What have we learned?

If you like:



Then you will LOVE:

This is "Plus One" by the way. Remember them?


Well, if you have been reading last weeks posts about "Ark" culture, this is where I would love to hear some feedback. I think it comes down to one word. Relevance: Christians, it seems, are putting a lot of effort and energy into being relevant. But when you step back and look at the gospel, it totally opposes the idea of relevance. The basic message of God’s love has never changed but yet we feel the need to dress it up in cool clothes, trendy music. And for what purpose? To make to make the message more appealing. Are you kidding me? The greatest message of our time needs to be dressed up? Made relevant? What really blows my mind is that we (Christians) are the ones who claim to know the Creator. One would then assume that our ability to create would have the upper hand. Christians “should” be the ones pioneering creativity in all aspects of culture ESPECIALLY art!! What I find in Christian art (especially music) is a sense of inhibition not found in the mainstream. No one is taking the risks that make themselves vulnerable like they do in the mainstream. Imitation is safe. In an effort to maintain a sense of cool or relevance we start to follow the trends of the day. Rock bands portraying angst when there is none. Pop acts trying to sell sex when there is none. Ultimately following the secular world’s lead with cheap knock offs. Never has the term “Holy Shit” been more appropriate. Yet, I find Southern Gospel music in all of its campy cheesiness more and more appealing. I like it because it doesn’t hide the fact that it is not cool. I mean let’s face it 90% of what is available as Christian media is shabby at best. The other 10% that is good art is not successful because, at its heart, it is real. It addresses real issues in honest language. For some reason that doesn’t fly as “marketable” in the Christian sub-culture. How messed up is that? What a conundrum Christian parents are in. We want to shelter our kids from the filth from the mainstream but yet the alternative is sanitized crap. I admit, I am jaded from my experience in the CCM world. I don’t listen to “Christian” music. When driving I don’t have the slightest inclination to turn on Christian radio. In fact I rarely listen to some of my close friends whom I consider to be in the 10%. I get more out of hymns lately. How relevant are those?