Music Matters - part 2

Back finally for another post, which was pressured by Cassie. All about music again. More about what I was talking to Nick about last night - about how music has just become an industry and less of an art.

I mean, look at it. Music that is solely produced for the masses, and is only made to move units and make money. It's become an industry similar to, say, steel. Where it's created solely to make profit.

I hate to sound like that guy that's like "It used to be about the music man", but it is, music is slowly losing it's soul in all areas.

Such as why I have a stance again downloading music - both legally through iTunes and asorted digital stores, or illegaly, like Limewire. It just seems to be cheapening the whole experience for me. I don't care if you pirate music, other than if you're a jerk about it and go boast about how many albums you downloaded last night. And plus, if you hunt around, you're likely to find a physical copy of the CD for less than what it is online. It's not that hard.

Tony Brummel, who founded Victory Records, and, according to Joel, is a jerk to his artists, has the same idea that I have:

"...it (iTunes) makes music disposable. It makes it a faceless impulse item. It steals its soul"

"I absolutely believe that allowing people to cherry-pick the tracks they want from each album cannibalises full-length album sales and is ultimately detrimental to the artists who created the music..."

And also in Showbread's song Stabbing Art To Death, describes pretty much how music has become something that is made not to be art, like almost virtually opposite to this. Showbread tends to say music is dead, seeing that their symbol is two quavers with a circle and slash through it, like a No Smoking sign, are claiming that they'll only create noise with music destroyed.

The song's pretty much about how music has been ruined for corporate gain, and how art is in ourselves, not in the world that deceives us so much.

But the lyrics to the song just sum up what I feel perfectly, and is the perfect way to close this post.

Art is not the world, art is in our heart

And so I am the prince of sounds that make ears ring
my princess kiss me with your sweet lips and lo,
my heart will sing if art is in yourself,
or in a class at school if art is ego and selfishness,
and at the mercy of primitive tools we sing sweet good-byes in screams and screeches
and bury these knives in your heart
no paintings or poems to let you live on
we've seen the last of art as servants and lovers
we wash your feet and cry out into the dark the noise, the beauty,
the love you bring me stabs these knives right into art

art is not the world,
art is in our hearts

Stab art to death...

Music Matters

In music the other, while discussing The Devil Wears Prada, and how one of their songs includes the line "don't be ashamed of your faith" and how that line apparently "ruined the song" because it has a religious agenda behind it.

Wait a sec, these are the kids that listen to songs like this and this. Hmm. Too blind to realise that they themselves are literally being spoon-fed Suicide Silence's own atheistic agenda?

This really annoys me that somehow it's ok for you to listen to someone telling you an entire album that God is dead, but when you listen to an album that has maybe one mention of Christ and it's deemed "too preachy".

Then another guy says "tell them about that shirt we saw", which apparently said "What the f**k is up with Christian Hardcore". What? So telling you there is no God or that life is worth nothing is ok, but telling you there is hope is not? I really hope people start to realise this depressing trend in music and reject it for more hopeful tunes.

Who are you?

Have you ever stopped to think about who you are? Like, what made you who you are today?

I seriously think about how if I never met someone how different I would be. Like as I mentioned in a previous post, how I probably would be a gamer today without Josh, or how I would never be into the music I am today without Stuart, and vice versa (most recently for Stuart). It seriously does my head to think if I'd never met these vital people, never changed churches to my current one agos ago, didn't choose to go to my high school I go to today, I wouldn't be who I am.

It's unthinkable of who you might be without certain things happening, and it makes you think how amazing it is that somehow you made these choices, met these people, and how crazy it is that these happened, how huge the consequences of something that seems so small at the time.

I guess I'm happy that I am who I am, and happy with the people who have made me, and the who I have, in turn, made too. It always surprises me when I realise that I have actually impacted others lives. Maybe you should stop and think about it one day too. Hopefully it makes you feel loved.

The Doctor

Do you ever get that feeling when coming out of anything medical related that you should of said something else to one of their questions? Like, you got out of the doctors, and then think out what the doctor asked you, and you think about your answers, then are like "AWWW NAWWW" when you realise you probably should of said something?

I got it just then when I got out of the doctor's. I coughed a bit, and then remembered how he asked me if I had a cough, and then I thought "AWWW NAWWW".

Ah well, too late. Hindsight is 20/20. And there were all these Swine Flu alerts everywhere as well.

Like Gordon Freeman, minus the sweet goatee...

Yeah, I lost my voice yesterday, on my birthday of all days. Yeah, it got worse throughout the day, until finally at night I really couldn't say anything at all unless I pushed word out through my diaphragm. Yeah.

So i thought, while also thinking about one of my heroes, Gordon Freeman, about how easy it would be to be a mute. I mean, like how you would never say anything you didn't mean, or swear, or put anyone down with your mouth.

But then I also thought about how much it would suck not to be able to talk at all. To never express yourself, or use the phone, or anything really at all that require communication.

James 3:9-12

With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water.

The mouth is both a dangerous tool and an amazing tool, yet we continue to abuse it, most of the time saying things we don't mean, or are careless with what we say. We really do need to try and control our mouths, no mater how hard it is, and try not to be the small spark that sets the great forest on fire.

For the love or the money

Recently, after talking in real life about how my attempt to troll the PC Powerplay forums failed, mainly due to me posting in the serious discussion thread in all caps. Which I only posted in the "Questions about Chrisitanity" thread, mainly due to me getting angry and wanting to post things that would get my normal account banned, which I didn't want. And I posted, on my original account, how Christians witnessing and attemping to convert others is out of love, not money or selfish reason. There was the usual arrogant atheist response (involving an explanation of SCIENCE and LOGIC to me). Eh, I got over it.

Back to the talking in RL again, my friend who is also on the forums saw this post, and then after saying the forums don't need a troll (which they really do, because right now they're downright boring 90% of the time), he mentioned my post, which everyone got in uproar over and started saying "No they don't, they just want the church to make money" and all this other stuff I forgot. The one quoted is the one that stuck.

I mean seriously, lets get this first point out of the way. I gain absolutely nothing if my church makes more money. Seriously, I don't, and people don't just give straight away when they join a church, do they? I mean, the church isn't there just to make money. What do churches do with money, tell me? Yup, not much, mainly just staff and building costs. No, we're not building some superweapon or something crazy, and we're not a company like the Catholic church is built up to be.

The church is there to be a hospital for the sinners, not a refuge for the saints (I think that's how the quote goes). We are out there telling people about Jesus because of the love we have for you that we don't want to see you spending eternity in the wrong place. That's how I see it.

Children of God

I've been thinking of late, well, for a while no, about how we should be Children of God. The idea just dawned upon me one day, sorta out of nowhere. I thought about how kids are so innocent, and how when we grow up we become corrupted by the world.

Like kids don't care about waht they're wearing, where they fit in isocially, whether they're popular. They don't debate on religion or doubt anything. My youth leader, Samuel Danger, said how when you're with kids they're so truthful, they don't lie. I realised that we lose all this when we grow up. We lose this dependance.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing to grow up, it has to happen some day. But just how we should be chi;dren of God, almost literally. Later after I ghad this thought, one night at youth, there was a talk about being children of God, and the speaker said how children have dependance on their parents, like we should have this dependance on God.

Just some thoughts I've been having.

Back baby!

I recently returned from my annual youth group camp. And to be honest, I never wanted to leave, or go back to society ever again.

And now that I've returned, I've got this sinking feeling, that I really do want to withdraw from society. Coming back reminds me of how much I missed - I much I wished didn't exist. I really want to go back and stay back forever, and not worry about anything, and be in constant fellowship with mates. And to have sermons everyday.

And seeing the huge amount of stars was great. It's something that a good 80% of Western society misses out on, which could sway thousands out of thinking that everything that's in existence is a mistake. God created it, and so far, it's one thing in this world that we've yet to ruin, and probably never will. They're amazing. El_josho agrees.

In recent news...

I saw that pre-schools are going to start teaching kids the Aboriginal origins stories. I mean, what? I'm all for reconciliation and equality, but this seems too far.

In a society where more and more scripture classes in schools are getting smaller, as the entire world becomes more sceptical, we wanna terach kids the Aboriginal Dream Time stories just for reconciliation?

If this were the 7-Day Creation story that was being told, parents would be in uproar, claiming that we have no right to indoctrinate kids with religion, yet look at what's happening. Another reason why I don't understand people.

The gamer, in it's natural habitat

Well, I guess I'd describe myself as part of the gamer/internet subculture. The one which you reference games or repeat over 9000 a lot. When you spend more time online than you other former favourite past time.

A lot of people see us a s a bunch of nerds. I usually just shrug it off, mainly cause it's usually coming from one of the "cool" kids. Stupid. But we're usually seen by these people as having no life, being socially inept.

But really, when I look into their little groups, they all look the same, listen to the same music, and, as soon as someone gets something new, say, a piercing, the rest follow. Also, I see that most of the jokes they make see to being sexual, mostly unfunny. And in jokes make no sense, not that they would to me. But they start with just repeating one line that has no meaning.

Yet, when I look in most of my group, which we all vary in tastes of things such as games (though mostly FPS), music and TV shows and such, we all have really, really funny jokes. In jokes which usually relate to previous conversations or situations, Youtube videos, blogs, games. Virtually any type of media form, we have a set of inside jokes about it. Mostly when I say gamer culture, I mean PC gaming culture, not console. PC is so much better. Full stop. Most of the culture agrees. There's mostly no 12 year olds on PC.

And yet we're seen as having no fun, as the others define fun (usually drinking and constant parties). Gamer culture is the most funny, the most engaging, the most thoughtful, educated, accepting (hahaha, only sometimes, and if you're not a female) and informed culture I think society has ever seen.

So there, I'm a going go game on for the rest of my life, hopefully. Maybe the culture may die out, but we'll still being cracking jokes, when onlookers are still think that we need to grow up.

Bubbles in the Air, Bubbles everywhere!

Today, apart from being a certain awareness day, was absolutely bucketing rain for most of the day. With the sky looking "English", and armed with a small bottle of bubbles I found while cleaning out my room, I took on the rain.

Bubbles actually last longer in the rain. You'd think that they's fail instantly, right? Wrong. And they stick to things, they don't burst on contact like they usually would.

And I got some photo's of the bubbles down the side. I blew some bubbles down the side, and they made a sweet image, so I thought "This'd look good for a photo". So I rushed in, grabbed my brother and made him take some photos.

Of course, the first image would never be the same again. Ah well, I still got some sweet photos, and used all the mixture in the bottle, which was what I'd planned.

And yes, I know that blue barrel looks like the floatable ones in Half-Life 2. I think the same every time I walked past it.

And that's Mark in that second photo.

Happy Singles Awareness Day, baby

Yup. It's that special day. The day where you're all alone in a sea of couples, although usually not me, for some reason.

I also got F.E.A.R. 2 today, and Left 4 Dead is 50% off for this weekend. I'm gonna get it tomorrow, Dad's just gotta move money over to out online debit card. Get geared up for a huge amount of male bonding sessions, mates!

And I did finally clean out my wardrobe, and moved all my old school books I may need into boxes.You feel sorta accomplished after finishing, kinda like getting an achievement. Which reminds me of this blog.

What's Your F.E.A.R.

I recently got the F.E.A.R. 2 Demo and just finished it. It ends too suddenly in the middle of a boss battle. Gah, makes me want the game as soon as possible.

And I only recently finished the first F.E.A.R. It took me a while, mainly because it was such a bland and repetitive, and every level look the same. Sure, it had a fantastic story, but it all looked a bit 1999-ish.

F.E.A.R. 2 is much better looking, with a better HUD, more variety of environments and it's back in the hands of Monolith, who made the original. The expansions, which I have not played, were made by Vivendi, I think. Apparently, they weren't as good.

So go out and get the demo. It's only 1.7GB!.

Also, I wish the HUD didn't flicker when Alma appears. It would give me more of a fright if I had no idea what was coming.

Why I'm a PC gamer

I guess I all owe it to Josh. He was the one that gave Half-Life 2 as a gift to me on Steam when he purchased The Orange Box about 14 months ago.

Seriously, I just realised this. If it weren't for him, I'd never have gotten into PC gaming, never have gotten Steam. Of course, HL2 may have ruined the PC I first ran it on, but it was worth it. I owe it to him that I understand most, if not maybe all, internet memes. He's the reason why lately I've been saying QQ a lot.

And without the gift of HL2, I would still be stuck being a casual gamer on playing Timesplitters: Future Perfect on PS2 on the rare occasion. Not that it's a bad game.

So there ya go Josh. This comes out of the blue. And may lead to many awkward conversations after this is posted. Probably not.

Click the link to his blog on the right-hand side under friends. Do it.

I'm gonna write a letter...

That's right. To the OFLC about not having an R18+ game rating. Why? Because I can. And because I'm procrastinating, and because they replied to someone else's concerned letter.

I'm gonna take a while to write it out, though. And make a decent argument, not like every other illiterate gamer that writes to them "PLZ CAN WE HAS R GAMEZ, FAGZ".

Summer

The holidays are nearing to an end, and these I've acomplished little. Getting my license and beating Bioshock are about all I've gotten up to.

This happens pretty much every holidays. The feeling that you probably could have spent the time better. I don't know if this is just me. If any of you loyal readers feel the same at the ned of the holidays.

Of course, we all feel the same when we say we never want the to end, of course.