Friday ... Cannot! Wait!

Friday is actually a pretty packed day for events I wouldn't mind taking in. Jars of Clay is in town and the guys from Spinal Tap are playing Jones Hall just a few blocks from my office. Whatever ... I passed on seeing Over the Rhine last time they were in town and I'm not about to make that mistake twice.

Israel Houghton's first video off the new release ...

Two weeks away, Over the Rhine hits Houston ...

In other news, tonight is movie night for the singles group. If you've got an itch to catch a movie or just hang with a group from church, find us at Skewers on Richmond & Weslayan tonight at 7.

Something about U2 and playing music on rooftops ...

Easily my favorite off the new disc.

(h/t: Mark Daniels ... via RSS and not on blog for some odd reason)

Here we are, a month and a half away from the one concert I'm most looking forward to this year - Over the Rhine. In that spirit, here's one of my favorite, "rediscovered", favorites of the band.

lyrics ...

confused
ever since i spied you in the rooms of my mind
now i can't deny you

believe me when i say
i'd climb to heaven
crawl beneath the lowest hell
to stay near you

I honestly and truly loathe it when I don't have the time to blog that I wish I had. So, as a means of marking some of the time that goes by on my journey, I thought I'd just slap up a little more video. This time, it's more Over the Rhine. The band hits Houston on May 1 at the Warehouse. I'm thinking of camping out for the show starting Monday morning.

I need to see this movie ... bad!

Christianity Today has some background on it.

I. Love. This. Song.

Lincoln Brewster's guitar work ain't that bad, either. Christianity Today has a good Q&A with Linc, also.

Tonight at Lakewood. It should be fun.

Some interesting video here by comedian Penn Jillette. It's been a while since I've done a YouTube Tuesday thing and this really seems to tie in rather well with Marcos' sermon this past weekend.

(via Col 3:16)

Perfect tunage for a slow, lazy holiday weekend ...

Lakewood's own, Michael & Carrie Hodge, performing "Let's Stay Together":

There's a few different portable versions of the tune out there: Al Green, Michelle Williams, and Tina Turner high on the list. Pick up one if you must, but I don't think you'll find a version that beats Michael & Carrie's.

My absolutely favorite song from Lincoln Brewster's latest. Unbeknownst to me, there's a great story here about the making of this song. What sold me was the lyrical focus of it and the rich guitar work going on in the background of Lincoln talking here.

I'm bailed out by YouTube for this past weekend's special. Muchos Gracias to Will for tipping me off on this ...

Good shot of Joel Camey going to town in this song. But what I really think I liked most about this version was the way the choir was used. It adds something very different than the studio version (which is now publicly available just about everywhere and downloadable here) as well as the Passion version.

» Christianity Today: Jazz Gets the Blues

Interesting update on the movie project based on Donald Miller's popular book ...

A film adaptation of Donald Miller's Blue Like Jazz, one of the most popular Christian books of the decade, has been put on hold until filmmakers can raise more money.

Director Steve Taylor, who has co-written the script with Ben Pearson with creative input from Miller, says they need to raise another $2.8 million before they can move forward with production. Filming for the $3.8 million project was to begin several months ago in Portland, but has been postponed indefinitely.

Taylor says his team is "fully prepped and ready to shoot. All we lack is the rest of our budget so we can finalize our lead cast."

Taylor says he's been surprised at how difficult it's been to raise the money for this project, considering the phenomenal success of Blue Like Jazz--more than a million copies sold, and counting.

"Some Christians came in early with a few hundred thousand dollars, and I just assumed the rest of the money would follow quickly," Taylor says. "It's surprising to me that most of the Christians we've met who have the resources to invest aren't familiar with Blue Like Jazz. The book's readership is primarily people in their 20s and 30s, but the investors we've met with tend to be much older, and typically don't have a frame of reference for what we're trying to make.

"Blue Like Jazz is for a college audience that goes to movies every weekend, whereas most movies developed within Christian circles seem pitched to older audiences that go once or twice a year. A few of the investors we've met have kids who love the book, but it's not like I can wait around until Daddy retires. This movie, like the book, doesn't have a ready precedent--which is one of the reasons I want to make it--but that lack of precedent makes investors uncomfortable. That, and the sweat that pours off me when I sit in high-backed leather chairs."

Taylor joked that he doesn't play golf or polo, "so how can I expect to cultivate wealthy friends? My business partners have a new strategy for these meetings--they're keeping me out of the room."

I'll be honest, I've got no idea what to expect of a movie adaptation of this book, which I thoroughly enjoyed reading. I'm just not sure how entertaining this story comes across in movie form. But hopefully, I'm just not imaginative enough on this count and it'll be a great movie once it's finally made.

On another Don Miller note, he finished out the first night of the Democratic National Convention by giving the benediction. And since it's Tuesday, it may as well be another YouTube Tuesday:

Long time, no blog. One major tidbit to highlight for the time being is that Chris Tomlin's new CD comes out after Labor Day. Oddly enough, a quarter of the songs on the new CD are already available for individual MP3 purchase and I've already played the heck out of them. This is the latest, and the best so far. It ought to be interesting to hear what else is on the CD.

Wow, I had no clue before last week that there ever existed a video of this song. It's one of my favorite tunes from the 80s, but the guitar solo in the video is just about the fakiest, fake, faking thing I've ever seen in my life.

The recorded solo was done by a young Paul Gilbert, who would go on to light a fire in secular music circles with the heavy metal band, Racer X and later with the power-pop stylings of Mr. Big. He'd score a #1 hit with the latter, courtesy of "To Be With You" and still records as a solo artist. He's still a monster on guitar, so Darrell Mansfield's Revelation CD is a nice treasure for anyone looking for good ol fashioned hard rock with some killer guitar solos. For a little more on Paul Gilbert and why any right-thinking shredder enjoys his playing, there's always this two-part Guitar World video lesson to enjoy. Now, if video of Gilbert performing this song ever turns up ...

Just about the most awesome thing on the internet today. Footage of the Altar Boys reunion show at Cornerstone in 2000.

Did I say something about taking a "fast" from video posts outside of church? Well, if so, consider me officially lapsed ...

Over the Rhine is just too tempting and this version of the song is beyond incredible.

That aside, a whole lotta workin', a little writing, and a dab of graphic designin' going on over here.

Because it just doesn't work the same on Monday ...

First up was the intro:

My quick take is as follows: Michael Hodge + Ebow = Magnificent!!! Why did I ever NOT get one of those things?

I got a hot stock tip on the opening during the week, so I was looking forward to seeing it. Problem #1 was that I get to church Saturday in a rush. And there's work to be done for a soundcheck upstairs. I opt to play hooky from church and think I'll catch the live feed on the big screen ... which is kindofa cool thing to do if you must play hooky. As luck would have it, there was more sound work to be done, so I had all the pleasure of watching the visuals of the entire service, but only the sound of something like a song and a half, plus maybe the final 10-15 minutes of the sermon.

It wasn't all a loss. I did get to learn a thing or two about the sound system. But it kinda meant that my "optional" attendance on Sunday was a bit less "optional." Besides, I could get into church early on Sunday, camp out for a good seat, catch up on some long overdue reading, and enjoy everything a little bit more knowing there wasn't a lick of work to be done immediately afterwards.

Unless you consider ripping video like this "work."

Next sample is of a vocal treatment of "Amazing Grace," done by the entire ensemble lineup that Lakewood has to offer ... plus Joel Camey up front on guitar.

Of course, I'm also obligated to point out some background appearances by the likes of Aimee Beard and Fiona Mellett, both of whom we don't get to see often enough on the big stage. And the splash of red they have to offer is another side benefit. But seriously, when's the next Aimee Beard special???

Speaking of special, here's how it's done at Lakewood. You take four All-Star musicians, throw them on stage, and say "Go."

That's our version of "In Christ Alone," of which there are numerous versions available (I'll plug Steve Green's just for the heck of it).

So that's how we celebrate the risen Savior. Naturally, there was a pretty darn good sermon afterwards. I'm sure it'll be one that Joel's critics fail to catch, but those who do will be far better for hearing it.

Two notes for now: I've thoroughly mixed up the usual order of my blogging week here. Instead of Monday Video and YouTube Tuesday, I've got YouTube Friday and Sunday Video. Ya know what? I'm going to just leave it that way and see if the vast, open space of a non-video week might get me motivated to do some more blogging around here. No telling what might happen if I run across a video clip that warrants blogging about. I'll just cross that bridge when I arrive at it.

For now, enjoy the music. It's even better in person, so if you missed out this past weekend, next weekend is another opportunity.