Yeah

it's been a Bob Dylan kind of day. Good class, then meeting after meeting at work. And sunshine when I was walking back to the car, in spite of a rainy forecast. So I took a little detour on my way back home, chillin' to good music, windows down, feeling the wonderful warm breeze.

The video is from a 1978 live performance -- back when you could still understand what he was saying =). And it's my wish for all of you.

Your kisses....

aren't really wasted on me, but I love this song:

Does anyone know if you can buy their stuff in the States now, or do I need to look for them in Europa?? Not that I won't have plenty of time to do that.....

If you're looking for me this afternoon I'll be at the CROP walk ... and then Gelato ... and then off to buy a polka-dotted dress. Too. Much. Fun.

Hope for a better world

In church today, the story was about Peter, when he and the disciples were out fishing and not catching anything, and Jesus called out to them over the water and told them to throw the nets on the other side. After they had come back ashore and Jesus was fixing breakfast, he asked Peter: Do you love me? Three times. We all know the story. Our pastor, Sarah Shelton, pointed out that Jesus did not point the finger, did not try to make Peter feel guilty about his previous betrayals. He just offered him the opportunity for redemption, the chance to make it right by avowing his love for Christ 3 times.

These three avowals of love were followed by the command to "Feed My Sheep" -- don't just say you love me, put it into action. Thanks to all of you who take that command to heart, and demonstrate God's love in the world you inhabit; even on the days (especially on the days?) when you don't realize that that's what you're doing.

This afternoon, at 2:30, there will be a CROP walk to help eradicate hunger here in Birmingham, Alabama. The Birmingham chapter of ONE.org will be participating, as well as several friends of mine. If you're in this neck of the woods, come check it out. If not, keep the walkers in your prayers, and the people for whom they are raising money.

The image above is of the cross in Rick Dill's church in Weimar, Germany. The church had about 7 or 12 members when he arrived, and it's now grown to over 150. The cross, made by a local artist, consists entirely of discarded and found materials, because Christ takes that which is old and discarded, and seems to be of no use, and brings it together to create new life and new purpose.

Blessings and Peace...

And to TexasInAfrica --- thanks for the reminder of the blessings brought by luminous friends, who are sometimes with us an all-too-short time. And thanks for being one of the people who brings light and joy and tears and LIFE to my life and to all those around you. You make such a difference and I cherish your friendship.

Get me back to Austin, oh damn, I miss that town ....

(Got them Sweet Tequila Blues....)

(And thanks, Texas in Africa)

Herbert Grönemeyer-Zeit, dass sich was dreht

The best soccer song ever!! Enjoy....

More German Music

Trivial Knowledge suggested the following:

Tocotronic - fun, electronic rock. A good beat, you can dance to it! On iTunes, so you can get it legally for yourself.

Blumfeld - I like it! Also on iTunes, so you can check them out there.

The Notwist - Trivial Knowledge describes them as "Moody, gorgeous electronic pop" and I agree, having listened to the little bits on iTunes. The iTunes description of their album Neon Golden begins: "Neon Golden was a subtle rewiring of the Notwist's long-established baroque hip-hop post-rock fetishist technique." Intriguing ...

Danke, danke für die Vorschläge, Trivial!!

What would I do without NPR?

It's how I wake up every morning, listening to the WBHM morning show. I even keep listening during all of the pledge week rambling. On Saturday mornings, I listen to "Car Talk" and "Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me" almost religiously, and on Sunday mornings I try to figure out the riddles by Will Shortz before whoever is playing the Quiz game. It's how I keep in touch with what's happening in the world, because I don't have time to peruse newspapers every day, and because I don't really have patience for the local news. It's not that I don't like knowing what's happening here, but there's just so much fluff.

But more than that, it always gets me thinking. Especially the "StoryCorps" and "This I Believe" segments. And it almost invariably leads me to new music and musicians. This morning they featured Susan Werner, and I'm going to see if her music is available on i-tunes. I love the way she sings about church and about faith, without being trite.

There was also a cool new novel presented, with an excerpt read by the author: Foaling Season by Aryn Kyle. It's the little things like having an author read her work that make the difference.

And they also featured a Swedish band, "Peter Bjorn and John", who recently sang at SXSW in Austin. Of course, they did say that it's easier for a Swedish band to be accepted in the U.S. than "a German band, which is almost too foreign", because Sweden is so influenced by what we do. I don't know if I agree with that, entirely. Although there are certainly more Swedish bands famous here than German bands. We'd be hard-pressed to make the argument that Germans are NOT influenced by U.S. culture, and there are a number who only sing in English. What I love, though, is that there is now a movement in German music to actually sing in German. Here are some German bands and German music you might enjoy:

Silbermond - go to the audio section and listen to clips from their new album

Fettes Brot - a little harder than what I usually like, but great texts.

Roger Cicero - fabulous crooner, if that's what you go for. And funny texts. Here's a video!! And here's Germany's 2007 Eurovision entry. I don't think it will win, but the song's ok. The comments prove the general ignorance of a deplorably large number of people.

Juli - best website of all of them. And great music! Happy to help translate the lyrics, just let me know...

Wir sind Helden - probably the best known or one of the best known in this group. But I couldn't get the music to play on their website. Someone else might have more luck, or know where to find it?

Nina Hagen - not new music, really, but I love her stuff. Here's my favorite video. It always makes me think of Berlin ... and the movie "Sonnenallee".

Xavier Naidoo - he's pretty. Check out the vidoes.

Ararat - very cool site; they actually provide the lyrics and the whole song. German Christian music.

Wolf Biermann - read this article about his take on the recent Stasi movie, "The Lives of Others"

There are surely more excellent German bands out there. If you know of someone I should check out, I'd love to hear about them.

Ash Wednesday

I know, I keep sending everyone to other blogs, but click on the link above for a beautiful thought-for-the-day today, Ash Wednesday, 2007.

Dust we are, and to dust we shall return.

Blessings and peace...

Energy

I include this one only because it was directed by Frodo ...

Thanks to the "Source of Knowledge, Trivial and More Trivial" (SOK - aka the Computer Genius) for sharing....

Addendum: and yes, the Apples in Stereo are awesome.

More british pop...

Thanks to the Lawyer, who first showed me these videos. This one is fun!

The Pipettes

Gotta love this brit girl band. The 70s ambience, bad teeth and fab outfits make this video... What do you do, when the music stops?