sigur ros 22FEB2006

This was the advertisement that was running in the paper a few weeks prior to the show. Below are some pictures that I took of the show:

Sigur Ros featured on the marquee at the Uptown Theater. I love marquee photos. There are some great rock photos that shows a band under the sign with their name on it. It is usually defines the moment that the band becomes 'big time' and fans start to catch on.

Before the show started the stage was dimly lit with a lights shining up onto the back curtain.

Amina was the opening act and they also played as the string quartet for Sigur Ros.

Sigur Ros played their opening song "Glosoli" behind a scrim (or see-thru curtain) with different spot light casting huge shadows onto the scrim for a layered affect of images. The visuals imagery complimented the audio...their music sounds similar to these images.

Their music has been discribed as otherworldly.

During the show, I had an idea of what their music sounded like.

After the show, BB asked me how I would describe their music. I told him I thought it was the sound angels make when they see God and sing praises.

The scrim is now removed. Their singer/guitarist used a bow to make the big wash/wall of noise sound on his guitar. He primarily used the bow on almost every song.



They would sometime shoot some video images onto the back curtain.

Here is the image that is on their album cover for Takk... you can see Amina on strings.

This song (don't ask me to name it because it is all in icelandic) featured two bass guitars.

I love this shot!




During the encore, they played behind the scrim for a couple of songs.

These images were beautiful with the colors, shadows, and layering of the band member.

I really like the hands of these next two pictures. I believe this was the final song of the show which I think was Track 8 on ( ).

It was as if the audience was soaking up God's goodness. I love going to a rock show and seeing that God showed up. "...finding the Holy in the unHoly."

TAKK...thank you.

What would a show be without a crazy Sigur Ros fan? BB sporting his new shirt.

AMINA

There is so much good music coming out of Iceland. Wednesday night BB and I went to see Sigur Ros play at the Uptown Theater. Amina was the opening band and I will do my best to describe them.

The house lights went down and the stage lights come on. Four ladies came out on stage. They looked frumpy. Their heads were hung low – a sign of humble modesty and not a tryout of American Idol. They were all wearing dresses, the kind you saw in the ‘80s on any give Sunday morning at church. Conservative dresses that went below the knees, with a belt around the waist, and sleeves that covered the shoulders and elbows.

There was a table set up with an all-you-can-eat buffet of instruments – bells, an apple laptop, wine goblets filled to different volumes, stringed instruments that I know nothing about, xylophones, vibraphones, things you blow into, and things you cut trees down with.

Amina is a quartet – two violins, a viola, and a cello. Their music sounded very fragile and delicate. It sounded like the music box on top of my sister’s dresser. The music was very homespun and organic, yet electronic and dreamy. Traditional, yet very modern. Quiet and very noisy.

The first song was played through a music box as one girl was spinning the handle and the other three were on strings. Other songs featured old-world folk guitars, harps, a pump organ, a variety of bells, a wood saw played with a bow, different xylophones, computer beats and noise, and running your wet fingers over wine goblets. They also used their voices as an added instrument – no melodies or singing, just ooooh-oohs and aaaah-ahhs.

They were all amazing musicians as they played everything and switched. Strings, keys, bells, etc. They all traded instruments and each could play everything.

After they finished their first song, the audience was silent. We were all stunned at the beauty of the music and were not sure an applause would be appropriate. After a long 10 seconds the crowd erupted. Amina was amazing and it was definitely a show were substance ruled over style.

Here are some pictures that I found from someone else. These pictures show the same setup at the uptown, so you can get a visual idea of what we saw. View some really good pictures here.

book - with or without you

I just finished reading the book With or Without You: a spirtual journey through love and divorce by Cameron Conant. Not typically the kind of book that I would read, but since our church receives a batch of books geared to the young adult crowd and the fact that I enjoy the memoir style books, I read throught it quickly. (There were also U2 lyrics at the beginning of every chapter...)

The memoir style books, if that is what you call them...what is a memoir vs. and autobiography? In the age of weblogs and so-called reality TV, it is interesting to read about other peoples experience and realities. These types of books are popular right now.

This book was very painful to read as we follow the author as he meets his future wife and has a shakey dating relationship, followed by a hesitant marriage, and then a full-blown divorce. There are no happy endings, the writer is going through a lot of pain and feels like he is damaged goods for being a victim of divorce. He does his best to not be too biased and explores all of his faults without going too deep into hers.

But ouch! I never want to go there, and I thank God for the wife I have and the all grace she gives me through all of my mistakes and selfishness.

This book is fresh. I believe it was written not even a year after the divorce. There is not the seperation of years to add perspective. It is raw and real.

I also just found that the author has a blogspot. (to add to the story.)

President’s Day Weekend 2006 – part III

Monday, February 20^th

I really didn’t sleep well on this trip. Lack of oxygen – breathing slows down during sleep and the result would be a minor head ache in the morning. Also, my mind would be racing as I would go to bed and my body felt like it was going through the motions of snowboarding. Anyway, I didn’t sleep well Sunday night, so I got up early after my dad woke up and took his shower. I got up, took some headache medicine, jumped in the shower, got dressed, and packed up for the trip home. By this time everyone else was getting up and showered. We all packed up our stuff for the trip home and then went to a place for breakfast. I believe the place we ate at was Sunshine Café. There is another story to tell about our breakfast, but I’ll save that for another time when I can provide pictures. Back at the Moose Lodge, we loaded the van and said our goodbyes to Doc and headed home. More movies, music, and conversation for the trip home with several stops along the way for gas, potty, and food (which included Taco Johns in Goodland, Ks.) I think we made it home before 10pm.

Tuesday, February 21^st

I took this day off in case we got back super late the night before. I decided not to go into work anyway. I got to sleep in until 10am in my comfy bed. In the afternoon, I took the boys to the park, while Vernal got a steam cleaner to clean our carpet in the house. When her work was done, we picked her up and went out for pizza at Papa Keno’s. I was craving pizza. Yum!

President’s Day Weekend 2006 – part II

Saturday, February 18^th

Moose Lodge has two bedrooms. Doc has dibs on his master bedroom. The other bedroom has two twin beds and that is where my dad and I slept - (Although, I kept offering my bro-in-law the opportunity to sleep in the same room with his father-in-law.) My cousin-in-law slept in the living room on the hide-a-bed sofa and my bro-in-law in the same room on a mattress on the floor. We had breakfast at McDonald’s after several other attempts proved to be to busy. After our quick breakfast we made it to the slopes of Copper Mountain. My dad and Doc, both skiers, took off to ski together while I stayed with the others to teach them snowboarding. The started to pick it up, but by the end of the ski day they were pretty tired. I met up with Doc at the end of the day for a final few runs that took us to 4pm. We all went back to the Moose Lodge to change out of our ski gear and freshen up for a dinner in Leadville. The drive to Leadville was a very scenic tour through the mountains and passes the continental divide. I think it was about a 30 mile trip. Doc gave a good tour commentary as we passed places of interest. Doc recommended this place called Quincy’s. The only choice on the menu is the size of your steak. They alternate Prime Rib and Filet Mignon on different night. We had Prime Rib. It was sooo good and we were so hungry. Besides the steak, the meal came with a salad and a baked potato. The price for all of that and a 16oz Prime Rib was only $13.95. We ate well and then Doc took us to a place for chocolate milkshakes for the trip back. On the way back, we made stops at Wal-mart and a grocery store. Back at the Moose Lodge, we did what guys love to do – sit around the TV and flip through the channels. Basically, we just hung out as we each took turns getting a fresh shower.

Sunday, February 19th

I woke up to the smell of breakfast. My dad made omelets and hashbrowns. We were all sore. We soon got dressed and were back out on the slopes of Copper Mountain. We all stuck together for most of the day. My bro-in-law and cousin had improved greatly with a night of sleep. They were doing quite well. Close to the end of the day, they had their last runs, so Doc and I went for one final run. We made our way back to Moose Lodge to change and head into Breckenridge village for dinner and some night time street life. We ate at a Mexican restaurant and I don’t remember the name of the place – Mi Cocina or Mi Casa??? Breckenridge has a nice “main street” type of drag with lots of shops and eateries. We walked into a few and found a pretty cool bookstore that was an old house with all sorts of rooms with homey furniture and book cases and rugs. I picked up a book for my boys about the critter family who goes on a ski vacation. Back at the Moose Lodge, Doc made some chocolate chip cookies that we ate with ice cream. We sat around and watched more TV and Olympics.

President’s Day Weekend 2006 – part I

I have been away for a while, so here is a quick rundown of this last weekend. (in parts)

Thursday, February 16^th

Rock music – a good way to start off a little vacation time… I hadn’t been to a show since U2 in December, so I had been itching to see some music. BB and I went to see the Violet Burning who were in town. The usual venue that they play at has closed down, so it appeared that they played at some friend’s house in the basement. It was more of a private show that opened to a few people in the public. I had to email and reserve a spot to the host. Needless to say, I had never done that before. It was a bit strange, but the violets were as good as ever. After the show, I came home a packed up for a weekend of snowboarding in the Colorado Rockies.

Friday, February 17th

I worked until noon and then went home and loaded up the car. The family drove me over to my dad’s house were I met up with my dad, bro-in-law, and cousin-in-law. We had rented a van with a DVD player. We hit the road and drove west on I-70 until we came to Silverthorne. I think we left about 1:30-2pm and got in at 12:30-1am. We stayed at Doc’s place in Silverthorne. We have come to call it “Moose Lodge” because everywhere you look is some sort of moose decoration. The weather across Kansas was bitterly cold. We stopped for dinner in Russell, Ks at the Golden Coral. An all you can eat buffet for 4 guys sounds like a good idea, but after a couple of trips you realize that all the food is crap. Music up front and movies in the back make the trip go by quickly.

olympic courage

I was watching a bit of the Olympics the other night and I briefly caught a bit of the pairs ice skating. I saw a bad accident. A Chinese pair was skating and he threw the girl up in the air and she did her thing spinning, but landed very badly and bent the knee in an unnatural way. She immediately tried to get up and continue, but realized she was pretty shaken up. The guy came over immediately and held her as they skated off. The music had stopped and they were heading toward the side gate where a trainer looked at her knee. I thought they were finished, but soon she gained the courage to get back on the ice and finish their routine (including another jump, which she landed.)

There are several other stories like this that I have heard that have come out of this year Olympics. I like those acts of courage. To me, I think I’d quit. I don’t know – I guess you don’t know until it happens and then you find out what you are made of.

This reminded me of something that happened a month ago on one of those warm 60 degree January days. I took my boys to Antioch Park and the park has a large playground area. Goose is old enough (3) that he can run around and I can keep an eye on him. My little Turkey is a bit slower paced running around, so I stay next to him.

Turkey was running up and down a ramp incline and I watched Goose about a hundred feet away run up a play structure and jump out and grab a monkey bar. He had never attempted to do monkey bars by himself before. He couldn’t hang on and his momentum cause him to swing forward where he fell about 5 feet on his back. It wasn’t the brand new equipment, so he landed on dirt and old woodchips.

He was in instant pain, and I was far away. I made a couple steps forward to get their quick, but reasoning told me to grab Turkey first. As I ran over, a mother had picked him up but soon I had a hold of Goose. Tears were running down his face and he was crying out loud, but as soon as we sat down on the landing at the other end of the monkey bars, he said he wanted to try again. I was proud of him – for that courage. I like that attitude in my son. In a moment of pain and defeat, to give it one more shot and not give up. I helped him across the bars and then held him again as he was able to cry through the shock and the pain.

Soon he calmed down and we went over to the swings.

2 books

Searching for God Knows What by Donald Miller

I finished reading this book a few weeks ago. I had started it last summer, reading off and on, and then got hooked on some fiction, so finally I finished. Dust had a review somewhere on his site. There is a lot in that book that struck me, but the what is fresh in my mind comes toward the end, because I forgot what I read this last summer.

Chapter 13 Religion – the dangers of marketing formulas

“It is true that people need Jesus, not religion. And at times I am concerned our most passionate missionary endeavors are more concerned with redeeming our identity as Christians within the lifeboat than with presenting Jesus to a world looking for God.”

The chapter talks about how Christians look for validation from the culture. We want people to admit we are right and they are wrong and how we need to redeem ourselves to culture rather than show Jesus to a hurting world. There are some funny stories about Youth Pastors always seeking out the cool kids, because if they come to your youth group the other kids will follow. I particularly liked the experiment of finding ugly people on album covers at a record store (easy) and then going into a Christian Bookstore and trying to find ugly people on the covers of Christian music (hard.)

Simplicity by Mark Salomon

I just finished this book last week. Mark was the vocalist for the harcore punk band The Crucified that I used to listen to back in ’89-’91 era before I got bored of the hardcore/punk music. I had seen The Crucified live a few times. Now he is in a band called Stavesacre. I don’t have any of their albums – I think it is post-hardcore, whatever that means.

It was a fun and eye-opening read, learning about his life and being a part of the Christian underground music world, his struggles being a Christian and being a spokesman for Christ (the doublelife), the downfall of the crucified, God giving him over to his life of sin until nothing was left but for him to call out to God, getting back into music, and how he sees his role as a christian and a musician and the expectations the Christian world puts on an entertainer, etc. A good read for those who like music, art, God and his pursuit of you, and what it’s like touring.

valentine - into the heart of a boy...

I helped Goose make a Valentine for mom. He loves projects and is such a 'hands-on' guy. I try to encourage and promote it as much as possible. We gave it to Vernal this morning. I painted the 'boring' blue and placed the letters and provided restraint. Goose added the strokes and heart of a boy...i want to stay for a while. (18X24)


We painted this in the basement, which serves as an indoor playground during the cold weather days.

Friday 10Feb2006

I love it when certain events fall into place for my half-day Friday’s. This Friday was such. I am always looking for activities for Goose and I to do or any combination of the four of us (for that matter.)

Goose has an excellent memory. He’ll hold you too any idle promises. (be careful!) So before I left for work Friday morning, I told him that I would be back home at lunchtime and that we were going to do something fun, “it is going to be a surprise.” (It is safe to leave things as a surprise in case the specific doesn’t work out.) I was planning on taking him to see Curious George. I had seen the advertisements on TV and thought he would probably enjoy that movie.

Sure enough when I came home from work and opened the garage door, his head was peaking out of the door into the house. His first words to me were “dad, what is the surprise?” I explain to him that we are going to the movie theater also called cinema to see a movie – Curious George.

Goose is only 3 and this was his third time to the movies. His first movie we took him to was maybe last June when the Winnie the Pooh - Heffalump Movie came out. His second movie was Polar Express in 3D at an Imax theater last November.

We caught the matinee show and Goose has come to expect popcorn at movies. We had popcorn at Polar Express. I should have made some at home, but instead we got the kids pack. It keeps him occupied during the movie. It can be difficult for a 3 year old boy to stay still for an hour or so. He did well, though. After picking the last row up top to sit in, he decided during previews that he’d rather movie to the row in front of us. We stayed at that spot for the rest of the show.

I found Curious George enjoyable for a kid’s movie and the music of Jack Johnson was terrific. He’ll probably win a Grammy next year for his original songs for a film.

On the way home, we came to an intersection where there was some construction going on. I pulled into the parking lot right in front of two diggers digging a huge hold to install some new underground pipes. Goose loves construction vehicles and the diggers were both active. We watched until quittin’ time at 3 o’clock.

We then went home and put on our swimming suits and headed over the indoor swimming pool in our community center.

Later that night, Vernal and I went up to the church where they were hosting a fondue for two for the young adult couples. The people who put this on did a really good job in all their preparations and service all at an affordable price. I am not sure that I thanked them enough for the good time that we had.

The "Big Letter"

I remember as a teenager in my parent's house a big tattered and worn enevelope would come in the mail to my dad about once or twice a year.

Let me pause and ask a question that I sometimes wonder: What did people do before Weblogs? As in the whole "I am going to write something for my friend and relatives to read and they can comment on it. And then the same for them - to write something that I can read and comment on." People kept journals, but those were private. Some could write a letter to the editor, but that's usually not personal.

This "Big Letter" (that is what it was called in our family) that would come in the mail to my dad is the closest thing that I can think of the the modern day weblog. It was the rudimentary analogue version of this new digital medium.

Whenever my dad got this letter, he had the look like he just got an unexpected Christmas present a few weeks late from a great aunt. He would take the letter over to the dining room table and open it up on its clear flat surface, because for the next week that table would hold the contents of the letter.

What is the letter and how does it work? I wasn't really all that interested in it at the time. It was a family letter and I really didn't care about Great Aunts who I've never met. To my recollection I think the letter worked like this:

• It was a letter for the family to keep in touch.
• There was a sheet with a list of family names and addresses which served as the queue for who you were to send the letter to next.
• People are counting on you if you don't send to the next person, then the letter is dead.
• Everybody writes their own letter and includes pictures of events, grandkids, graduations, etc.
• When the letter comes back to you. Remove your previous letter and add your new one.

I think those were the basic guidelines. It seemed like as it got going people would comment to others in there new letter. "Gertrude, we are happy that Stan is liking his new hobby of model trains." "Mabel, we enjoyed the pictures of your new house on the Puget Sound. We just might take you up on your offer and come visit."

Of course my dad had a really great time with it. The list of people were long and I don't know if he knew every relative on that list. The best is when he played a "little trick" (maybe an alter ego) by including Thomas and Mary, the retired missionaries. They were real missionaries, but not related to the family. He had just come home from church were they spoke and he had one of their "prayer" cards. He included their card and wrote a convincing letter from them, including nice comments to everyone and asking important questions. "How did Doug's hip surgery go? We have been praying for them." He even added their name to the list with a fictious address, but he put their name on the queue right after my dad's sister (in town), so that he could slip in a letter and keep the joke going. I think everyone fell for it, because when the letter made its way back, others had included them in their comments, but were a little confused on who's cousin they were related to and couldn't remember meeting them a the Family Reunion ten years ago.

I went off to college and I kinda forgot about that letter until now. I don't think it is still going. Maybe they are all blogging, but I highly doubt it.

a saturday project...install a faucet

A little over a month ago our kitchen faucet started acting up. It worked fine, but something was broken in the handle that made the handle really loose and it would swivel. So for my birthday, my parents offered to by a new faucet for me. Vernal joined me in the fun of picking out a new faucet at Lowe's - we both had our eye on the same one.

So here are a few pictures and a narrative in how to install a faucet for a kitchen sink.

It is really important to have good music to listen to while you work. I had to listen to one of the albums (shown above) for the pun and irony.

BEFORE: This was our old faucet. Say "goodbye faucet." I will have to disconnect the pipes and remove the faucet, before I can do anything else.

Underneath the Sink: hmmm! This is going to be tricky. I stick my head under to take a look. How am I going to do this? There is a disposal in the way and the threshold of the cabinet is really uncomfortable on my back.

I use telephone books, towels, and rugs to build up a level and soft surface for me to lay on my back and be able to bet back into the area of work.
This is the view I have when I get behind the disposal. I need to unhook those pipes and unscrew the nuts that hold the faucet.

After everything is unhooked, I pulled the faucet out of the sink. It was pretty dirty underneath the putty on the base.

I cleaned up all the holes and now I am reand to install the new faucet.

Anytime I stepped away from the work area, I had a young helper who was ready to jump in and make sure the work got done. Goose loves projects and is very hands on.

I had to take a break from the sink when my dad came over. I needed an extra hand to help me put together this swingset. It was our neighbors (they are getting a new one). They asked if we'd like. There were just a few parts that we needed to reassemble - it was mostly 'put together.' It didn't take to long.

Back to the faucet. Next I had to apply some plumber's putty to the bottom of the base.

And then place the base in the right spot. Next put the new faucet in place and attach it to the sink and then connect the new flexible pipes/tubes to the existing vaulve pipes and the the job is done.

With small boys who are curious, it is expected of them to find ways to watch and to get involved (or maybe just find a good seat.)

After: The job is complete.

new music for the month of january

January was a good month for getting new music. Here are a few of the albums that I picked up. Normally, I don't I don't get this many new albums every month, but I had leftover gift certificates from Christmas and it was also a birthday month.

So this is what I picked up:

Broadcast - Tendor Buttons
I got this with a leftover (from Christmas) gift certificate to Border's.
This is a British electonic band with female vocals. Most of the electronics are very analog sounding, but not totally electronic - there is some guitar. For a while I was trying to figure out if I should get the Imogen Heap album. I sampled it, but it just didn't do anything for me - it was to poppy. I think this album is what I was looking for.

My Bloody Valentine - Isn't Anything
Also from Border's with my GC.
I had a cassette with this album, but never the CD. There are some good tunes and can see the direction they are taking to make the best album of the 90's - Loveless.

Faultline - Your Love Means Everything
(Best Buy gift certificate)
A British electronic/ambient/post-rock band with some great guest vocalist.

Depeche Mode - Violator
(Best Buy gift certificate)
I have always enjoyed this album but never owned the CD.

Joy Division - Closer
(Best Buy gift certificate)
This is my attempt to educate my self on Joy Division. I love New Order (same members, minus the lead singer who committed suicide.)

Laura Veirs - Year of Meteors
(B-day gift)
I wanted this album after I heard her song 'galixies.' Her album reminds me of the people I knew and the lifestyles of being at a university.

U2 - Wide Awake in America
(B-day gift)
It was on my wish list. One of the rare U2 ep's that I never had on CD.

Cat Power - The Greatest
(bought with B-day money for $7.99)
I wasn't sure I wanted this at first, because it was billed as soulful/country-ish album. But I like to be challenged with different music. I love it! Her voice is gorgeous and the music is good.