80's theme tonight (actually from the year their birth which mostly means 80's). The top ten starting tonite means we get lots of bios.
Ramielle Maluaby. How Do I Get You Alone. She was flat thru most of the song and she was virtually stationary even with a big 80's song. Simon and Randy's little tiff was fun.
Jason Castro. Fragile. Sting doesn't connect well with the kids of today. I dug it but I don't know about the texting crowd. He did it well but it was boring.
Syesha Mercado. If I Were Your Woman. She sang it really well but I still didn't think it was fun. The 80's were such a fun a poppy time but so far all ballads? She is going to sail thru the next few weeks regarless though.
Chickizie. If Only For One Night. His jacket was so cool. I asked my wife to buy it for me. He is completely in his element with an r&b arrangement. He still will have trouble relating with the kids on this one. But everyone has been dull so he may be fine. Could be in danger.
Brooke White. Every Breath You Take. The false start heard around the world. She is going to be fine because she did well the rest of this song. Finally, someone brought in some fun. She didn't do the best performance of all time but it was good stuff still.
Michael Johns. We Will Rock You. A great performance and a ton of fun. Rocked everyone's socks off at the house I was watching it from.
Carly Smithson. Turn Around. An great performance. She nailed the ending. Really did well with the rock edge second week in a row. Hopefully the obvious stress she was feeling won't affect her to much next week.
David Archuleta. He sang a pretty obscure song. It was very happy and fun, but a bit cheesy.
Kristy Lee Cook. God Bless the USA. She got to do her country song and it went well. Sounded great and no one hates God Bless the USA. You can't say you dislike it even if you did.
David Cook. Billy Jean. Played it up as a rock ballad. It was incredible. The big note was amazing. Very original and a huge risk and it worked. Risks, new arrangements and solid performances thats how you win AI.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Saturday, March 22, 2008
Family Mission Statement
About a year ago at the prodding of some wise friends from church my wife and I set out to establish our family mission. I helped with a lot of the wording and my wife supplied a beautiful and creative way to display it so that all who enter our home can know what we are all about and hold us accountable. It has been very useful to look at from time to time to make sure that our decisions are in line with our values. Personally, I find it especially useful with regards to parenting decisions. In light of comments by friends and family who liked the idea as well as it being featured in some premarital and marital counseling curriculum I thought it may be useful to post here. Most businesses set out to determine what they are all about pretty early on, but our families tend to shoot from the hip and play it by ear.
Obviously should your family decide to do something like this you would want to sit down and talk with everyone to decide what is important to you and how you envision life together. For us, what follows is our family's mission...
We desire to passionately pursue...
Creativity in all areas of life...
Justice and Mercy with a focus on the disenfranchised and ignored both locally and globally...
Knowledge and Wisdom seeking to grow in maturity and ability...
...and to cultivate...
Independence-working towards personal growth and integrity; taking initiative.
Peace-a spirit of contentment and satisfaction.
Community-an enviornment built on trust, openness and fun.
...And above all...
We will love God and love people.
Could your family use something to help you all focus and unify, help to guide in decisions? Maybe take a Saturday coming up and set aside sometime to talk about your thoughts. The impact can be pretty profound.
Obviously should your family decide to do something like this you would want to sit down and talk with everyone to decide what is important to you and how you envision life together. For us, what follows is our family's mission...
We desire to passionately pursue...
Creativity in all areas of life...
Justice and Mercy with a focus on the disenfranchised and ignored both locally and globally...
Knowledge and Wisdom seeking to grow in maturity and ability...
...and to cultivate...
Independence-working towards personal growth and integrity; taking initiative.
Peace-a spirit of contentment and satisfaction.
Community-an enviornment built on trust, openness and fun.
...And above all...
We will love God and love people.
Could your family use something to help you all focus and unify, help to guide in decisions? Maybe take a Saturday coming up and set aside sometime to talk about your thoughts. The impact can be pretty profound.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Consequences of Learning How to Fly
I am standing at a fork in the road in my life. For quite some time now I have recognized how I want to spend my life and why, but always ran into obstacles and could not quite get there. Quite suddenly and relatively unexpectedly I am in a position to realize my call and pursue the vision that others, and myself at times, have seen in my life.
And yet, there is fear. Why fear? For so long I have been stuck on the ground and yet now, I can fly. I can go where I feel led and pursue my passion. This should be the most exciting week of my life. But fear? Fear is the antithesis of what I expected to feel should this day ever arrive.
Do big and exciting opportunities ever make you fearful? How do you deal with these feelings? What do you think they mean?
I think that with any big change, and especially if there is risk it can be scary. But do you push on? Do you use that fear to be smarter, wiser, stronger? Or do you clip those wings and kick back, hanging out on the safe and solid ground?
I think this is what seperates the greats from goods. Many never take the big jump, the big risk...And they do just fine, but never fly, they never soar. I think I am ready to deal with the consequences of learning how to fly. How about you?
And yet, there is fear. Why fear? For so long I have been stuck on the ground and yet now, I can fly. I can go where I feel led and pursue my passion. This should be the most exciting week of my life. But fear? Fear is the antithesis of what I expected to feel should this day ever arrive.
Do big and exciting opportunities ever make you fearful? How do you deal with these feelings? What do you think they mean?
I think that with any big change, and especially if there is risk it can be scary. But do you push on? Do you use that fear to be smarter, wiser, stronger? Or do you clip those wings and kick back, hanging out on the safe and solid ground?
I think this is what seperates the greats from goods. Many never take the big jump, the big risk...And they do just fine, but never fly, they never soar. I think I am ready to deal with the consequences of learning how to fly. How about you?
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
The Top 11
The Beatles are the theme for the evening, a bit different than last week but for most people pretty much a rehashing of the Lennon McCartney theme from last week. A very cool mini documentary on the Beatles. It will be interesting to see what happens this week as song choice and arrangment last week was so hit and miss. The Beatles is a tough theme as they are almost all iconic songs and many of them are bandcentric rather than vocalcentric. Right now strategy isn't as important but starting next week contestants need to start thinking about fans. People will all have chosen their fave from the top 10 next week. This means that everytime someone is eliminated about 3 million people will be looking for a new favorite. The contestants have to start looking at song choice and arrangement even more closely to make sure that they keep their fans and bring in some of those from the outgoing contestants.
Amanda Overmeyer. Back in the USSR. Amanda is great at setting up arrangements that highlight and complement her bluesy rock vocal style. I still think that she is going to struggle for relevance. She won't win, but if she did would go the way of Taylor and Reuben. Simon mentioned something I have mentioned several times with regards to changing things up.
Kristy Lee Cook. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away. She never heard this song before. That was a shock. Seems like she worked a little bit better with the band to make the arrangement her own but still sound good. She messed with the melody a bit and didn't hit all the notes. It was a tad dull, but all in all it was a good performance and the ending was excellent. It was pretty safe though, so if someone else does poorly she will do move on, but again, she will be at risk.
David Archuleta. The Long and Winding Road. What can I say? He is amazing. Just absolutely nailed it. Hit every note, showed some emotion, took some risks with some runs but remained true to the song, wow. David will probably be the next American Idol unless he has a repeat of last weeks performance blunders. He has not just the performance and the skill, but also the youth and boyish good lucks that will drive young girls to text 6 million times a piece.
Michael Johns. A Day in the Life. This is such a long theatrical and multi layered song his arrangement ended up sounding a bit schizophrenic and difficult to understand. A few pitch problems as well made for a pretty blah performance. He will be ok tonite, but needs to pull off a great song next week. Not wearing an earpiece on a stage that size and with that huge of an audience seems crazy to me especially since they don't have any stage monitors. Could explain the pitch problems.
Brooke White. Here Comes the Sun. She always adds a touch of folksy coffeshop sensibility to the songs. Its fun and so is she. The performance might have overpowered the vocals tonite which can then appear cheesy. She can't dance. I think that she could be in danger if there are alot more great performances, but she certainly was not bad. She should be doing more emotional ballads. She has a lot of potential after the show ends whether she wins or not.
David Cook. Day Tripper. Awesome choice to find someone else's unique arrangement that the vast majority of AI viewers probably haven't heard. I mean really, aside from me how many American Idol fans are listening to White Snake. The talk box solo was awesome. The arrangement was awesome. A ton of fun and a workable single. To Simon's point, David is predicatable. He comes out and does a fun rock and roll show. This was not a song with a ton of vocal range as last weeks was. So while it was a great performance it didn't stand out as better than previous performances or even neccesarily as good. Again, song choice and arrangements make the difference between the good and the great. He definitley has the arrangements down. Not totally consistent on the song choice.
Carly Smithson. Blackbird. Ballads are always a risk as they can come across boring. She did it in such a low key that it didn't give her a chance to show off her skills up until the key change. It was pretty good after that but still not that much fun. Very understated and low key. She has a great voice and the vocalists were probably pretty impressed but the general viewing audience were probably using it as an opportunity to run to the restroom or grab a beer or a soda. She didn't gain any new fans tonight. But she will be fine.
Jason Castro. Michelle. No guitar tonight. He has a great voice. Sounds a bit like a Jack Johnson or a Ben Harper. Add to that the language of love and his looks and I am sure the ladies are swooning. He did the song very laid back and relaxed. He will be just fine this week but needs to nail the next performance to keep it going to battle David A. in the end.
Syesha Mercado. Yesterday. Very cool to bring the guitar player up front and do the song as such an understated ballad but then nail some of those high notes. She has no concerns for next week. A lot of emotion. She really put a lot of thought into how to do a big song and sell it well. Many times songs like this bite contestants in the rear because you either do a carbon copy of the original and come across kareoke or you flub the arrangement and it doesn't hold a candle to the original but she nailed it.
Chickizie. I've Just Seen a Face. Did really well vocally, but it seemed a bit like he just rehashed last week. The two parts didn't really match up. His harmonica playing was silly. Came across as being all over the place. He may be at the bottom next week. I like Chickizie alot but he doesn't seem to have a knack for arrangement and song choice. Since every liked last week he just tried to revisit it rather than catch on to what everyone liked, which was uniqueness and excitement. Its no longer new and exciting the second time in a row.
Ramiele Malubay. Should Have Known Better. She sang it really well but their was a disconnect between the arrangement and her vocals. She doesn't work well with the band. They played the song just about identical to the original but she was singing more of a country feel. She needs to work on song choice and arrangement big time to stay in for more than a few weeks.
Amanda Overmeyer. Back in the USSR. Amanda is great at setting up arrangements that highlight and complement her bluesy rock vocal style. I still think that she is going to struggle for relevance. She won't win, but if she did would go the way of Taylor and Reuben. Simon mentioned something I have mentioned several times with regards to changing things up.
Kristy Lee Cook. You've Got to Hide Your Love Away. She never heard this song before. That was a shock. Seems like she worked a little bit better with the band to make the arrangement her own but still sound good. She messed with the melody a bit and didn't hit all the notes. It was a tad dull, but all in all it was a good performance and the ending was excellent. It was pretty safe though, so if someone else does poorly she will do move on, but again, she will be at risk.
David Archuleta. The Long and Winding Road. What can I say? He is amazing. Just absolutely nailed it. Hit every note, showed some emotion, took some risks with some runs but remained true to the song, wow. David will probably be the next American Idol unless he has a repeat of last weeks performance blunders. He has not just the performance and the skill, but also the youth and boyish good lucks that will drive young girls to text 6 million times a piece.
Michael Johns. A Day in the Life. This is such a long theatrical and multi layered song his arrangement ended up sounding a bit schizophrenic and difficult to understand. A few pitch problems as well made for a pretty blah performance. He will be ok tonite, but needs to pull off a great song next week. Not wearing an earpiece on a stage that size and with that huge of an audience seems crazy to me especially since they don't have any stage monitors. Could explain the pitch problems.
Brooke White. Here Comes the Sun. She always adds a touch of folksy coffeshop sensibility to the songs. Its fun and so is she. The performance might have overpowered the vocals tonite which can then appear cheesy. She can't dance. I think that she could be in danger if there are alot more great performances, but she certainly was not bad. She should be doing more emotional ballads. She has a lot of potential after the show ends whether she wins or not.
David Cook. Day Tripper. Awesome choice to find someone else's unique arrangement that the vast majority of AI viewers probably haven't heard. I mean really, aside from me how many American Idol fans are listening to White Snake. The talk box solo was awesome. The arrangement was awesome. A ton of fun and a workable single. To Simon's point, David is predicatable. He comes out and does a fun rock and roll show. This was not a song with a ton of vocal range as last weeks was. So while it was a great performance it didn't stand out as better than previous performances or even neccesarily as good. Again, song choice and arrangements make the difference between the good and the great. He definitley has the arrangements down. Not totally consistent on the song choice.
Carly Smithson. Blackbird. Ballads are always a risk as they can come across boring. She did it in such a low key that it didn't give her a chance to show off her skills up until the key change. It was pretty good after that but still not that much fun. Very understated and low key. She has a great voice and the vocalists were probably pretty impressed but the general viewing audience were probably using it as an opportunity to run to the restroom or grab a beer or a soda. She didn't gain any new fans tonight. But she will be fine.
Jason Castro. Michelle. No guitar tonight. He has a great voice. Sounds a bit like a Jack Johnson or a Ben Harper. Add to that the language of love and his looks and I am sure the ladies are swooning. He did the song very laid back and relaxed. He will be just fine this week but needs to nail the next performance to keep it going to battle David A. in the end.
Syesha Mercado. Yesterday. Very cool to bring the guitar player up front and do the song as such an understated ballad but then nail some of those high notes. She has no concerns for next week. A lot of emotion. She really put a lot of thought into how to do a big song and sell it well. Many times songs like this bite contestants in the rear because you either do a carbon copy of the original and come across kareoke or you flub the arrangement and it doesn't hold a candle to the original but she nailed it.
Chickizie. I've Just Seen a Face. Did really well vocally, but it seemed a bit like he just rehashed last week. The two parts didn't really match up. His harmonica playing was silly. Came across as being all over the place. He may be at the bottom next week. I like Chickizie alot but he doesn't seem to have a knack for arrangement and song choice. Since every liked last week he just tried to revisit it rather than catch on to what everyone liked, which was uniqueness and excitement. Its no longer new and exciting the second time in a row.
Ramiele Malubay. Should Have Known Better. She sang it really well but their was a disconnect between the arrangement and her vocals. She doesn't work well with the band. They played the song just about identical to the original but she was singing more of a country feel. She needs to work on song choice and arrangement big time to stay in for more than a few weeks.
Monday, March 17, 2008
The Politics of God
Over the past several decades numerous books, lectures and conferences have attempeted to define or otherwise extrapolate what it means to be a Christian in the United States of America in regards to politics, voting and civic duty.
From Jerry Falwell, Hugh Hewitt, James Dobson, etc. to Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo, Rick Warren, etc.; everyone seems to know the heart and mind of God for the next election.
The 2008 election is no different and may even be more faith centric than previous cycles. We have had Mitt Romney (a Mormon elder), Mike Huckabee (a Southern Baptist preacher), and most recently gracing the headlines, Obama's church with a controversial pastor.
What role does faith play in leading? In voting? In our daily life? For everyone these answers will be different. I think it is clear that our values are defined largely by our religious background. What I think is not so clear (as evidenced by the wide body of work on the topic and no concensus) is how that manifests itself into politics.
I would like to change the dialogue a bit and venture a new approach. People who feel life begins at conception mostly believe that they should be opposed to legalized abortion. People who feel a yearning to see an end to poverty tend to believe in socialized welfare programs. The list goes on and on as most people want to see the law dictate the values they cherish. And that is ok. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs and approaches and their strategies. No one is entitled to speak for God as to which political position is the right one. (The one exception to this would be in Catholocism, but one chooses to submit to Papal Authority by being a Catholic and in turn accepts that the Pope speaks on behalf of God so the political portions of the new seven deadly sins would apply to you.)
What is not ok is the infighting and the claims that those who disagree with your politics somehow have less faith. Politics is largely about strategy not values. Some believe that outlawing things they feel are immoral is a good strategy to stop them. Others feel that it is not. CS Lewis once said that it would be a bad thing to try to legislate divorce out of existence. It was not the role of the Church to change peoples morals it was to change their hearts. Given the esteem he is given within most churches this should be seen as at least an acceptable and defensible position.
Grace, one of the hallmarks of the Christian faith seems to be lost in the world of faith and politics. Maybe this should be examined. Disagreements will happen. How we handle these disagreements should be a reflection of our values.
From Jerry Falwell, Hugh Hewitt, James Dobson, etc. to Jim Wallis, Tony Campolo, Rick Warren, etc.; everyone seems to know the heart and mind of God for the next election.
The 2008 election is no different and may even be more faith centric than previous cycles. We have had Mitt Romney (a Mormon elder), Mike Huckabee (a Southern Baptist preacher), and most recently gracing the headlines, Obama's church with a controversial pastor.
What role does faith play in leading? In voting? In our daily life? For everyone these answers will be different. I think it is clear that our values are defined largely by our religious background. What I think is not so clear (as evidenced by the wide body of work on the topic and no concensus) is how that manifests itself into politics.
I would like to change the dialogue a bit and venture a new approach. People who feel life begins at conception mostly believe that they should be opposed to legalized abortion. People who feel a yearning to see an end to poverty tend to believe in socialized welfare programs. The list goes on and on as most people want to see the law dictate the values they cherish. And that is ok. Everyone is entitled to their beliefs and approaches and their strategies. No one is entitled to speak for God as to which political position is the right one. (The one exception to this would be in Catholocism, but one chooses to submit to Papal Authority by being a Catholic and in turn accepts that the Pope speaks on behalf of God so the political portions of the new seven deadly sins would apply to you.)
What is not ok is the infighting and the claims that those who disagree with your politics somehow have less faith. Politics is largely about strategy not values. Some believe that outlawing things they feel are immoral is a good strategy to stop them. Others feel that it is not. CS Lewis once said that it would be a bad thing to try to legislate divorce out of existence. It was not the role of the Church to change peoples morals it was to change their hearts. Given the esteem he is given within most churches this should be seen as at least an acceptable and defensible position.
Grace, one of the hallmarks of the Christian faith seems to be lost in the world of faith and politics. Maybe this should be examined. Disagreements will happen. How we handle these disagreements should be a reflection of our values.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
