I can't believe I went as long as I did without owning an Ipod. Can you? No, I really can't.

I've been making music for a long time. Not Johnny Cash long but for over a decade. In that time I've met a lot of other musicians, some cool, some not so much. One band that I am incredibly happy to count as friends are The Rocketboys. They've just finished recording their, much anticipated, full length record 20,000 Ghosts and last night at midnight they posted a song from the record on their myspace page. I haven't heard it yet but their record is produced by Louie Lino, who you may remember produced 3 songs on our record, so I'm pretty sure its going to rock your entire ass off. Go listen to it, if you want to have a good day.

Our band has been fortunate to fall in with a sort of clique of bands that play together a lot and really enjoy and respect each other's music. I would say that our clique consists of:
The Rocketboys,
Jets Under Fire,
Dignan,
Gazelles,
Magnolia Sons,
and until last year
The New Frontiers,
Ethan Durelle,
and Consider the Source (who all broke up).

Its nice to be friends with bands that you don't have to lie to all the time. You can actually say, "Hey your new record is fantastic," and mean it.
When I first started being in bands it was the late 90's and you couldn't play a show without there being at least one band on the bill trying their hardest to sound like Creed. It was kind of exhausting because they were usually nice guys and you'd get to be friendly before the show and before you actually heard them play. So after the show you'd feel obligated to say something positive even though the truth was that you'd rather hear a puppy's death rattle than listen to them play anymore music.

Now those bands have been replaced by what I call "Mall-core" bands. Luckily, at least in Texas, we don't have to play with a lot of bands that we don't already know and like, so we don't have to share the bill with bands like these as much nowadays. But for a while there, if I'd heard one more band trying to be My Chemical Romance, I was just going to run towards the nearest living thing and kill it.

That's why I'm glad to run in the crowd that we do. I feel like everyone's doing something different from everyone else but we all still love and understand what each other are doing. Good times.

Can he be president now?

This weekend started with some Friday night recording at Matt's studio, where I laid down some guitar and scratch vocals for "Jezebel," and another drum track for "Things You Already Know." Tommy had done some guitar earlier in the day but was already gone by the time Leah and I put Harper to bed and I made my way over. Matt did a rough mix of "Jezebel" and I'm really pleased. That boy's good at recording, yo! Every time we record I regret hiring Matt just a little bit less. Maybe one day I'll actually be glad he's around. I'm kidding, of course, he's easily the most talented person in the band and a real sweetheart to boot.

Saturday, Leah had to shoot a wedding (and by that I mean she participated in a drive by) so it was me and Harper all day. I got up and mowed the lawn, showered, put back on my pajamas and stayed in them for the rest of the day. Leah thought that I should be depressed after staying in my pajamas all day but how often do I get to do that? Not often. It was nice, and I was not depressed.

Harper is smiling a lot more now, which does wonders for a parent's self esteem. Whenever we go to get her out of her bed, after a nap or in the morning, she smiles really big when she sees us and it feels like we actually matter to her now. I love it. It doesn't hurt that it is, without a doubt, the cutest smile I've ever seen.


Sunday, Leah and I bought a propane grill and I spent more time than I would've liked putting it together. We made plans to use it but after the frustration of putting it together, I just wanted to get away from it and more importantly, get away from this 100+ degree heat. But Leah had already started preparing the food so we went ahead with the grilling and it was pretty delicious. I'm really proud of Leah. She's really putting a lot of effort into making our eating habits better and learning to cook. With the exception of some tangy chicken last week, everything she's found and tried has been awesome, so much so that fast food is starting to look much less appealing to us nowadays. Good job, wife.

Also this weekend I watched Harry Potter & the Goblet of Fire and then just to remember how good Richard Harris is at being Dumbledore, Harry Potter & The Chamber of Secrets, which may be one of my favorites and I think a lot of people overlook it. I also watched The Shawshank Redemption while I was home with Harper. Oh what a world it would be if every movie was as beautiful or as good as The Shawshank Redemption.

My review of the Harry Potter & the Half-Blood Prince film

I'm not one those people who demand that movie adaptations be 100% true to their source material. I, generally, feel that if you want the book, read the book, if you want the movie, watch the movie. The simple fact that the medium is different makes it understandable that the plot will be shaped differently according to what does or does not work on film. So I haven't had a problem with any of the changes made between the Harry Potter books and movies, thus far.

Until last night.

Its weird, I don't really know how to write this review because there are so many great things about the movie but to me the few bad things ruined the experience. I'll start with what I liked.

1. The movie looks great. The cinematography, and effects are all amazing and I love how these movies just get darker and darker to reflect the atmosphere of danger that the characters are living in.
2. The performances are the best yet. With every HP movie I feel like the kids show improvement but this was the first one that made me actually stop and take notice that, hey, these people are really great actors now.
3. Its funny. Easily the funniest Harry Potter movie and with all of the teen romance going on, it lends itself easily to comic relief.
4. Its all about character development and when you care as much about the characters as I do, its really interesting. However, the real question is will all the humor, character development, and cinematography be enough to satisfy?

Now what I didn't like:
This was the first HP where not only did they hack out huge parts of the story but they supplemented the film with completely original and almost always pointless scenes. They took a lot of liberties this time that I didn't understand the need for because everything they did was less cool than the original story. My biggest qualm is that it pulls all of its emotional punches. So at the end of the movie I'm thinking, it was funny and well made but it didn't move me at all. Its not epic, its not intense and it really should have been. Its like being handed cotton candy when you ordered a steak. Really, all of this doesn't become apparent until the end of the movie where there is supposed to be a huge, crazy battle that the movie has very clearly been leading up to and then it just doesn't happen. What you get instead is the weakest possible version of what has to happen to set up the next movie. All in all, its a great movie that leaves you completely dissatisfied. I was so disappointed and it was the first HP that I didn't leave the theatre ready to see it again as soon as possible.

Also, why did Richard Harris have to die? And why did they cast Michael Gambon as Dumbledore in his stead? Over the course of the four movies that he's had the role, he's done so many things that make me go "Hey, Dumbledore would never do/act like that." I keep thinking that he'll grow on me, and I think Order of the Phoenix is the closest he's gotten to doing so, but he never does, really. He's just not Dumbledore. He doesn't embody the kindness, courtesy, and omniscience that Richard Harris very effortlessly displayed. When I saw those first two movies, the thing I was most impressed with was the casting. Every single person was exactly as I pictured them and Dumbledore especially. Half-Blood provided him ample opportunities to show that he really got the character of Dumbledore but instead, like always, he gave a performance that really makes me wonder if he's ever read a Harry Potter book. I find myself wishing that Sir Ian McKellen had deemed it prudent to portray two white wizards in his lifetime.

So, my overall opinion is that this would have been the best Harry Potter ever if it didn't go limp in all the wrong places. Still worth seeing, still worth owning, still a million times better than Twilight.

Rejoice, all ye half-bloods and mudbloods! All ye muggles and squibs!

Not too terribly long ago, my wife made me go see Twilight. We went on opening day and ended up sitting at the front of the theatre because we only got there an hour early. At one point I turned and looked at the audience and counted maybe 5 other guys in a sea of women (we went to the Alamo Draft House to avoid the legion of 14 year old girls sure to populate the normal theatres). I don't mean to offend if you're one of those intense Twilight fans, but that movie is awful. Painfully awful, in fact. I haven't read the books but from what every person I've talked to about it says, the story is addictive but the writing is shit. I wasn't impressed with the story in the movie and I don't think I'd like to subject myself to writing that is shit even to the fans, so I've remained an active non-fan of Twilight. Anyway, as I was sitting in the theatre watching some of the worst special effects and acting I'd seen in a long time, all I could think was "I should be watching Harry Potter right now." The two movies were supposed to share a release date but HP was pushed back to summer so they could make more money.

But at long last, my day has arrived. Tonight, I will finally get to scratch the magical itch that has been plaguing me. I'm hoping we get good seats because, again, we'll only be able to get there an hour early. Paul and Gina will be joining us so it will be extra fun. I really can't explain how excited I am about this. I barely slept at all last night, which I don't know if its because of the movie or just because I happened to get a shitty night's sleep.

I've said it before, but for my money, Harry Potter is the single greatest work of fiction in the history of recorded story telling. Yes, I realize how bold of a statement that is. I've just never felt as connected to any fictional character the way I am to the characters in the Harry Potter series. We're already reading The Sorcerer's Stone to Harper every night at bedtime but I really can't wait until she's old enough to understand the story.

For better or worse...the soundtrack of my life.

Here's another list of songs. This time, its a list of songs that have strong memories attached to them. They're not, necessarily, my favorite songs or bands, by any means.


Another Day In Paradise - Phil Collins
Phil Collins was the first singer that I can remember loving. My parents weren't terribly musical people but we'd listen to the radio and Phil was all over it in the 80's. There was just something dark and mysterious about his voice that I was enamored with.

All I Need Is A Miracle - Mike & the Mechanics
This was my first "favorite song." I caught the last half of it on the radio one day and instantly decided that it was my favorite. I actually bought this whole record not too long ago and its horrible. Oh well, that song's still catchy as hell.


No Treaties - Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Coming Out of Their Shells Tour)
I loved anything Ninja Turtles, so when Pizza Hut was selling this promotional cassette my dad consented to get it for me. I listened to this tape way more, and for way longer than I really should have.

The Devil Went Down To Georgia - The Charlie Daniels Band
Country music became the rage in east Texas and my family was no exception. I loved songs that told a story and there aren't a lot of songs that do it better than TDWDTG. I bought a tape of Charlie Daniels greatest hits and there was a lot of cursing on the tape so my mom didn't know if I should be allowed to listen to it. Luckily, she gave in.

Time - Bride
I became obsessed with a plethora of Christian hair metal bands and Bride was the cream of the crop. Scarecrow Messiah was the first CD I ever bought, though I already had a lot of Bride tapes.

Adonai - The Supertones
My brother was more into this band than I was, but when I hear this song it definitely takes me back to the summer that Tooth and Nail records saved Christian music. Whatever I may think about the label now, they really were the first label to discover and bring relevant Christian music to the church mainstream. My youth group was obsessed with The Supertones and they even came and played at our church. The came with one of my favorite Tooth and Nail bands at the time, Stavesacre. However, after meeting Stavesacre that night, I never listened to them again, but I did make a promise to myself about how I would never treat fans, if I was ever lucky enough to have any.

Love - The Smashing Pumpkins
This is my all time favorite record, and when I hear this song I immediately think of carefree days in my room in White Oak, TX, playing Vectorman on Sega Genesis.

Fire Maple Song - Everclear
Another song that reminds me of sunny days in White Oak. When I hear this song, I can almost smell the pine trees.

Can't Stand It - Wilco
In the summer of 2002, I broke up with a long time girlfriend and Summerteeth is the record that I obsessed over during the debacle.

Baseline - Bleach
Bleach came and played at my church when I was 14 or 15 and they were amazing. They had just released their first record and my youth group was really into it. After the summer of 2002, I moved to Nashville and through mutual friends, got to know all the Bleach guys pretty well. I can, honestly, say that they are some of the most kind and genuine people that I've ever had the good fortune to know and I miss them, both as a band and as people.

Window - Damien Jurado
I'd never known a more beautiful sight than my wife walking down the aisle to this song.

Mr. Blue Sky - ELO
I'll always associate this song with the time that we played it for Harper while she was still in the womb and she jumped comically high.

Dear Prudence - The Beatles
This is the first song that Harper ever heard, outside of the womb.

My gayest post ever

A while back, an Austin gay & lesbian fashion magazine called L-Style/G-Style, did a feature about their top five gay friendly bands to check out at the South By Southwest Music Festival. Quiet Company felt very privileged to be included in the list. I'm not sure how they found out how gay friendly we are, though, since no one in the band is gay. The only thing I could think of is that I posted on the band's forum about my support for equal marriage rights a while back. Whatever it was, it made me feel good to be recognized as a friend of that community.

Last summer, the band went and played at the Cornerstone Music Festival in Illinois and if you don't know anything about Cornerstone, its the biggest Christian music festival in the U.S. that I know of. It was a great experience where we met a ton of really lovely people, several of which we still keep in close contact with. As it turns out, Cornerstone gets protested every year by a group of fundamentalist crazies that hang out outside the gate with signs that aren't too far of a cry from the kind the Westboro Baptist Church (the god hates fags people) use. One day at the festival, we decided to open a dialogue with one of these kooks and he didn't really want to talk to us but we got some pretty amusing video of the interaction, all the same. While I spent the better part of an hour trying to get this guy (a pastor) to specify what kind of music was actually OK with Jesus (its the Star Spangled Banner, and anything with bagpipes by the way...yeah, that's what he said), Tommy got anxious and walked on into the festival. As he walked he passed another protester holding what was probably the worst of the signs and it included a list of people who were, most definitely, hell bound. Of course, the list includes "gays, lesbians, liars, adulterers, fornicators, drunkards, drug addicts, prostitutes, thieves, liberals, etc." It may have even said "democrats" but I don't remember. As Tommy passed this person, the guy actually had the tenacity to ask Tommy "What do you think of my sign?" I love Tommy's response so much, largely because it came from Tommy, who thought the whole week was full of strange people doing strange things. But when confronted aggressively, he actually responds in a vernacular familiar to the oppressor, and says "I think you just cast the first stone," and didn't even break his stride. Classic. I don't understand people like that, that use their Bible as a weapon. I think the book has plenty of stories of "god's people" doing awful things in His name, but I just don't get why, in this day and age, you would have the desire to use it for those reasons.

While we were at Cornerstone, we made friends with a really lovely guy, who's name I won't mention. We spent almost all week hanging out with him and about halfway through the week, he and I were sitting on a hill talking and waiting for a show to start and I asked him if he had a girlfriend back home. He got visibly uncomfortable and told me that he had been gay but was trying not to be. My reaction was to instantly reach out and hug him, because my heart really went out to him. He's not the first friend that I've had that was told there was something wrong with him that could be fixed, when he confided in someone. So here's my opinion, no, scratch that, this is a fact. If there's anyone reading this that is struggling with their sexuality, there is nothing wrong with you, don't let anybody tell you different. You are just as normal and just as abnormal as everyone else. I don't, honestly, know if god loves us, but I figure you've got just as good a shot at it as anyone else. (I know the scriptures call it "an abomination" and all that but it says that about a lot of things. Here's a test: type "Bible abominations" into your google and see how many things that you do come up. Joe's Crabshack is full of people committing abominations 7 nights a week.)

This is really on my mind today because last night I watched a documentary called For the Bible Tells Me So.


It was one of the best documentaries I've ever seen. It tells the stories of 5 deeply religious families that have gay children and has really insightful interviews with a lot of church leaders. I would especially encourage anyone who thinks that the Bible speaks clearly on this issue to see this movie.

The purpose driven strife

Harry Potter week is finally upon us! Rejoice, true believers! We're seeing the movie Thursday night and I know you're all thinking what a poser I am for not going to the midnight showing on Wednesday, but I've got a kid now and that sort of thing just doesn't happen as easily nowadays. This movie looks AMAZING though, and I totally expect it to Avada Kedavra my ass.

Leah and I took Harper to east Texas this weekend. My brother and his family got to meet her for the first time, and I got to spend a lot of quality time with my niece and nephew. It was really great and Harper travelled well, which we were nervous about. But like a jackass, I accidentally left my computer, phone charger, and Harper's Baby Einstein mat at my parents house. Leaving my stuff sucks a lot but that mat is really the only toy Harper plays with so we're going to have to just buy something else for her.

A lot of you may know that I'm a huge proponent of the book Ishmael by Daniel Quinn, and for my money, its the single most powerful and transformative philosophy book that I've ever read. I've gotten a few people to read it and typically, there reaction is similar to my own. My brother is reading it now, on my recommendation and judging from his blog, I don't think he's going to be as affected by it as I was. Oh well. He is correct about what he says though, that the book does hinge on the reader already accepting certain facts. For instance, if you don't understand or just don't accept evolutionary theory then you will probably not agree with the rationale of Ishmael because the bulk of the ideas therein stem from humankind sharing the same humble origins as everything else in nature.

I also got my mom to read it not too long ago but I think one of the only reasons she consented to do so was so that she could get me to read a Christian book of her choosing. I'm not sure how even these scales are though: I ask her to read one book and then I have to read another one on top of spending almost 30 years obsessing over the religion of her choice. I'm kidding and I digress, I'm happy to do it. After all, if there is a viable reason out there to jump back into the fold, I'd love to hear it. That being said, if 26 years in the church isn't long enough to have heard all the arguments in favor of Christianity, then what are we doing in church so much?

The book she's chosen for me is Surprised by Faith by Dr. Don Bierle. My problems with the book start early, with the front and back covers. They advertise that Dr. Bierle is a "scientist" but never say what kind. They talk about how he studied life sciences but never say which ones; he's a doctor but what kind? It does say that he holds M.A. and Ph.D degrees in life sciences and an M.A. in New Testament studies. In the preface he talks about how much education he's had which is impressive to me, who has very little education past high school, but he also talks in detail about how devoutly religious his family was and how he was somewhat groomed for the ministry as early as age 14. And with that admission his arguments become somewhat tainted to me. He's been indoctrinated from a young age just like most religious people and that gives him a motive: a desire to return to the comforting religion of his family. I know because I feel it too, and I'm not saying that this is definitely how he is but just that it seems probable to someone like me. Somewhere between 14 and college Dr. Bierle became a skeptic and that's where he starts Chapter 1. I was actually really impressed at the beginning of this chapter because he really seems to get how I feel and understand the problems I see in the plausibility of it all. I guess he was a skeptic after all. A persons perspectives on religion and spirituality are really contingent on the question "at what point are you satisfied?" and pretty quickly, it becomes apparent that Dr. Bierle is far more easily satisfied than I am, at least on the topic of the first chapter which is, essentially, "what is the meaning of life?"

He poses the question "Do we have a purpose in life?" That's a good question, and I say "yes." He agrees but he thinks that the only way to have a real purpose in a finite universe is to have an infinite god give you one. I disagree. He postulates an analogy which essentially says that all the world exists for humankind's eventual benefit and therefore an infinite god must exist. Because there's soil, and soil's only purpose is to grow grass, who's only purpose is to feed cows. And why do cows exist? It can't possibly be for the sake of existing because that doesn't go along with our romantic idea of human purpose. Cows exist to give us meat, but don't tell the cows, they'll just lose all hope. I'm oversimplifying and paraphrasing, of course, but I think I'm giving you the broad strokes. I think that its far more reasonable to say that because soil exists, its possible for grass to grow, and because grass grows, its possible for cows to eat, and because cows die, its possible for grass to grow, etc. Its a system that sustains itself, see?

In the first chapter, for Dr. Bierle, he's satisfied with a god as long as it meets two requirements:
1: God must be infinite.
2: God must be personal.

He has to be infinite because he's the one thing that is OK without a purpose and he has to be personal because he has to be able to reciprocate affection. Why we NEED god to be personal to be relevant, he doesn't say. "Eastern" religions' gods are infinite but not personal and "western" religions' gods are personal but not infinite but there is one bowl of proverbial porridge that's just right. Somehow, just because Christianity meets the needs that this "scientist" has laid out for himself, that is proof that it is the religion that 3 out of 3 celestial beings prefer.

I'm only about 1/4 of the way through this book and I'm not sure if he's building evidence for a big picture or if he's attacking skeptical issues one by one. It certainly seems to be the latter as all the chapters are titled and geared towards a particular problem. So far, the section "What am I here for? The Crisis of Purpose and Meaning" fails to make any headway in proving or rationalizing anything other than the fact that the good doctor can't fathom a world where things simply exist.

I know that there are religious people out there who live every day like they're on a mission and spend their time and their money working towards a better world, and they feel like they're doing god's work and believe that god gave them purpose in life and rightly so. Most people I know aren't like that though. They get up, go to work, come home and hopefully spend time with loved ones or work on whatever it is they're passionate about...or maybe just veg out and watch TV until its time to do it all over again. This is the day to day for people of faith and people without any, alike. If god gives us purpose, I have a hard time seeing what it could possibly be, unless its just to do this: exist. I said that I believe we have purpose, but I believe we make it for ourselves. I love being a husband, a father, a son, a brother, an uncle, a friend and I love making music. Those are the things I'm passionate about and I feel like those are the things that give my life purpose. It really makes me sad when religious people that I love say that without god we'd have no purpose.

We'd still have each other.