See you in 2010!
This is special on two counts: one since I didn't bring you a InspirationSounds podcast last month and second I have been blessed to be the GRAMMY community blogger for the 52nd GRAMMY Awards for the Gospel genre so what else to do but to bring you GRAMMY edition podcast. You know how I love blending Gospel/Christian with some of the best instrumental tunes but this one has a little twist: each of the Gospel songs are up for a nomination for a GRAMMY.
It's pretty cool the power of instrumental music and when it's blended with men and women of God that loves the Lord it's a win-win situation. When you really think about it how many times have you been in service praising and worshiping the Lord and when the choir has stopped singing and the musicians are playing you still are caught up in the spirit, they two go hand in hand.
The tracks featured in this podcast is from their past work to let you that success did not come to these Gospel Nominees over night...it took years for these artists to achieve what they have today and I also feel in order appreciate a person in the present you have to sometime check out what they have done in the past. The artists that are nominated are:
Vicki Winans
Jars of Clay
Smokie Norful
Third Day
J. Moss
Donnie McClurkin
Mary Mary
Kierra "KiKi" Sheard
Sheri Jones-Moffett
Donald Lawrence
Karen Clark Sheard
Israel Houghton
This is only a handful of the talented men and women who have done remarkable work in composing, song writing, arranging some of the best Worship and Praise songs that are nominated this year and if I'm granted the opportunity to participate I will have more tunes in the podcasts.
Big, BIG thanks to the Academy of Music for allowing me to express my feeling in regards to the wonderful talent of the incredible men and women who love the Lord of lords and the King of kings.
Be Blessed, Be Safe,
& Have a Wonderful Day. :-)
Sounds Unlimited: GRAMMY Edition LP1
{to listen: click here | to download: right click}
to download from iTunes - copy this rss feed into iTunes
[Track Title - Artist or Group]
o1. Long As I Got King Jesus - Vicki Winans{Nominated for Best Traditional Gospel Album}
o2. WindSurfer - Steve Kindler and Teja Bell
o3. Nobody Loves Me Like You - Jars of Clay{Nominated for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album}
o4. Till We Meet Again - Special EFX
o5. Celebrate - Smokie Norful{Nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album}
o6. With You In Mind - Acoustic Alchemy
o7. I've Always Loved You - Third Day{Nominated for Best Gospel Song}
o8. Chinnok Winds - Chet Atkins
o9. Livin' 4[Remix] - J. Moss{Nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album}
10. Thy Kingdom Come - Special EFX
11. Speak to My Heart - Donnie McClurkin{Nominated for Best Gospel Performance}
Bonus Podcast
Sounds Unlimited: GRAMMY Edition LP2
{to listen: click here | to download: right click}
to download from iTunes - copy this rss feed into iTunes
[Track Title - Artist or Group]
o1. Incredible - Mary Mary{Nominated for Best Gospel Song}
o2. All Laid Back and Stuff - Andy McKee
o3. You Don't Know - Kierra "KiKi" Sheard{Nominated for Best Gospel Song}
o4. Cruise - Eddie Daniels
o5. God Will Take Care - Ted & Sheri{Nominated for Best Contemporary R&B Gospel Album}
o6. Dance With Me - Govi
o7. Healed - Donald Lawrence{Nominated for Best Traditional Gospel Album}
o8. Your Love Has Lifted Me - Special EFX
o9. You Showed Me - Karen Clark Sheard{Nominated for Best Gospel Performance}
1o. Those Eyes - Michael Deep
11. Again I Say Rejoice - Israel & New Breed{Nominated for Best Pop/Contemporary Gospel Album}
Intro Underscore music: Todd Kelley "The BigLa"
Outro Underscore music: Nicolay
photo: Snow Blind
Funny, when checking out the genre category for Steely Dan they are placed in the "Rock" category and to me they should be placed in the Jazz category. Donald Fagen and Walter Becker are true music geeks and are not ashamed it at all. They are not getting Botox treatments or getting face lifts. They focus on what they know best, bringing quality music, intelligent lyrics to the masses. You have heard me say this time and time again in regards to how Steely Dan and solo projects from Donald Fagen lifts my spirits whenever I'm feeling down and it kinda weird considering that some of their work is about depressing matters, go figure.
When growing up listening to their music it always strikes me in awe with the "Who's Who" of session musicians that show up on their albums. Not only can these musicians hold their own when it comes to improvising but are on point when writing music. I love the trilogy LP from Fagen because it goes from the wild ideas from a young man to a middle age man coming to terms to his age to finally tackling and embracing that touchy subject, death.
"The Nightfly" is one of my favorite LPs in the since of I can remember being young and being fasinated with sci-fi movies, digging science, wondering when we would have flying cars(which I'm still waiting on). This album was released the year I was a junior in high school and was beginning to discover my taste in music, the time I realized that I was different when it came to my taste in music and was not ashamed of it. (I saw this because growing up in a place where you were thought being weird when listening to music other than R&B).
Reading through the list of musicians that performed on The Nightfly brings a huge smile on my face and I am so blessed I read liner notes because if I didn't I would not have known about Rob Mounsey who would later produce for Michael Franks or Marcus Miller and Will Lee, two of the baddest bassist around who has recorded with so many great artists and Marcus Miller who would later produce albums for the late Luther Vandross and Will Lee is the bassist for the Paul Schaffer Band on Late Night with David Letterman and both bassist has performed for David Sanborn. Then there is Greg Phillinganes, Jeff Porcaro, Chuck Rainey, Valerie Simpson, Steve Khan, Larry Carlton, Randy Brecker and the list just on this album is just mind-blowing.
I could go on but I'm not...just check out these tunes and enjoy. I hope you dig this line up as much as I did putting it together.
Be Blessed,
~DarrenKeith
{to listen: click here | to download: right click}
[Track - Artist or Band]
01. Pixeleen - Steely Dan
02. Ruby Baby - Donald Fagen
03. Slang of Ages - Steely Dan
04. Brite Nitegown - Donald Fagen
05. FM - Steely Dan
06. Security Joan - Donald Fagen
07. Third World Man - Steely Dan
08. The Nightfly - Donald Fagen
09. Lunch With Gina - Steely Dan
10. New Frontier - Donald Fagen
from the LPs...
***Bonus Podcast***
{to listen: click here | to download: right click}
[Track - Artist or Band]
01. Peg - Steely Dan
02. Snowbound - Donald Fagen
03. Time Out of Mind - Steely Dan
04. Mary Shut the Garden Door - Donald Fagen
05. Almost Gothic - Steely Dan
06. Tomorrow's Girl - Donald Fagen
07. Jack of Speed - Steely Dan
08. Florida Room - Donald Fagen
09. West of Hollywood - Steely Dan
10. I.G.Y. (International Geophysical Year) - Donald Fagen
from the LPs...
to subscribe via iTunes copy and paste this rss feed
intro underscore music: Todd Kelley
outro underscore music: Nicolay
***for my first Steely Dan/Donald Fagen spotlight click here***
The Evangelical Alliance has been pushing the whole 'the internet is great and stuff' recently and in that vein came out with this classic internet header 'Tim Keller is not your pastor'. Nice. Pulls in the Keller haters, who hope to take chunks out of him, while tugging at the heart strings of his fans, who'll come rushing to his support. Maybe 'Geek, get thee to a church' would have been a more accurate and still explosive enough choice, but even Christian celebrities (not that he'd call himself one, mind) can pull in the page impressions.
Tangent alert - I do not qualify as a 'successful' blogger really, but I do wish that Christians would stop using the cheap shockjock tactics in their headers to pull in the punters. Make it openly negative or controversial that'll draw them in. Really? If you have something to say that has value then don't be cheap and, yes, don't conform to the rest of the internet. If your aim is to pull in the numbers quickly then that is the way to do it. But is that really why you're blogging? Shouldn't you be praying that God would use your words to reach someone, not whether your Google Rank will help you get a book deal? Actually, I think my problem will trying to avoid writing controversial entries than headlines...
The issue wasn't really Tim Keller, but the disclaimer on the Redeemer Presbyterian Church's sermons page, where they felt the need to mention that the free preaches are not a "broadcast ministry" to encourage "'virtual' members". So yes, get to your local church!
There was a surprising response to this article. Quite a number of the comments seemed to suggest that the Christian community as a whole don't 'get' the internet and how Christianity needs to encourage virtual Christians to be relevant in our fast moving-blah-ever-blah-complex-blah world.
Setting aside the mind-bogglingly generalisation that the 'Christian community' would agree on much else than 'Jesus, he's great you know', a person emoting *raises his hands* or typing 'ROTFITS' (Thats Rolls On The Floor In The Spirit) in the chat room of CyberChurchInternational-Overflow5 is not the same as standing face to face with someone, seeing the anguish in their eyes, the tears on their face and knowing that you're standing with them to pray for God to breakthrough on an issue that weighs heavily in their life.
Okay, sometimes it's not like that. Sometimes it's just a pat on the shoulder or a smile or a sharing moments with people. But essentially 'going virtual' is about control; deciding when and how you're available or open others. You can't suddenly click 'Offline' or 'Block' when you're part of a local church. You're open and vulnerable to God changing you through other people. Surprisingly, our western individualistic, 'I'm a wild, free spirit' culture doesn't like that.
Note: oops, there is a website called CyberChurchInternational, but I really can't be bothered to change it now.
Sharing life isn't easy, but it's rewarding and it grows you. For example, I live with a couple right now and they've just had a baby this year. I've learnt so much from them about how married Christian couples communicate, how they are both one and a team at the same time. I've learnt how selfish I can be and how much patience God can teach you if you're prepared to learn. I've also learnt that baby poo can just go on and on forever, regardless of how tiny the nipper is. Seriously, King Kong would be proud of some of the deposits... but anyway, hopefully you get the point.
The internet is great, but it isn't a substitute for being involved in your local church. What it should be is an extension of church and not a replacement of it. That isn't an opinion that comes out of ignorance of the power of the web, or just my opinion, but rather a desire to listen to what God was encouraging us to do through Paul in passages like Hebrews 10:24 - 25:
"24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching."
If you're a new Christian, take a deep breath and step into a local church. Ask God to teach you about grace and what it means to be under his grace and be able to express that grace to your fellow Christians. The fruit of the Spirit are love, joy, peace and patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness and self control. You are highly unlikely to grow in those locked away in your room staring at your computer screen.
The cool thing about being a Follower of Christ is that sometimes we as Christians may not agree on some issues but many times we want the same thing. I have to admit I may not agree with Dr. James Dobson of Focus on the Family on many levels. I don't question his love for God because I know he is a true believer but by us being from different cultures I feel we will never see eye to eye but hearing this 2 part message is something many parents today need to hear in regards to wayward adult children.
Allison Bottke is the author of the book, "Setting Boundaries with Adult Children" is not only talking the talk but is walking the walk in regards to this matter. If there is any message you should check out this is the one.
Couldn't find "The Chronicles of Riddick" at Best Buy but I found these gems...
It was 15 years ago today that Donkey Kong Country was released on the SNES.
And with it, brought forth this absurd notion that Better Graphics = Better Game.
Eye candy doesn't hurt, but this game was great because it was fun. Gameplay and control were spot-on, and had some very cool level design and environments (snow, swimming & cave levels FTW). It was definitely the kind of game that was easy to get lost in for a few hours at a time, and had plenty of varied & challenging (yet not too challenging) levels to do just that.
DKC shares an important place in what became a small flood of top-shelf games in the Fall of '94 that included Final Fantasy "3" (6), Illusion of Gaia, Earthworm Jim, Sonic & Knuckles (though IMO Sonic 3 was as good as the series ever got), Sega's 32X (okay maybe not all were 'top-shelf', but I have fond memories of playing Doom listening to Green Day's 'Dookie' album, so I'll include it), Killer Instinct in the arcade, the Sega Saturn & Sony Playstation in Japan, among others I'm sure.
Ah memories.
Damn I feel old now. :)
Funny how this month has slipped outta here...or maybe by me getting older and being a grown up time just zips by every year. Over the years my music horizon has grown but when it all boils down for me it comes back to the basic in regards to where my love for this type of music came from back in the late 80s - early 90s. This is Volume 3 of a four volume set. These songs are coming from the albums...
Windham Hill Records Sampler '88
There were other albums of course over the years that set my foot down the contemporary jazz/new age/fusion path and I have never looked back. But these albums take me back to a time when I could go into a record store and see rows and rows of cds of artists from Earl Klugh, Mark Egan, The Braxton Brothers, Will Ackerman but alas, those days are long gone. You will not hear their music on the commercial airwaves and the only way to find their music now is online stores or satellite radio or internet radio which now that I think about is a blessing. But it's still sad because there are people out there that still do not know about these gifted artists or do not have access to the web. I know I can't stay in the past but sometimes it's cool to vist there.
Hope you get a chance to take you some "me" time and kick back and relax to the sounds of these artists.
Be Blessed, Be Safe
& Have a Wonderful Weekend
~DarrenKeith
{to listen: click here | to download: right click}
***Track Title/Artist(s)/Title of Album***
01. Another Country - Shadowfax{from the "Windham Hill Sampler '86" LP}
02. The Long Riders - Richard Souther{from the "The Narada Collection, Vol. 2" LP}
03. Ariane - Acoustic Alchemy{from the "Blue Chip" LP}
04. Toys Not Ties - Nightnoise{from the "Windham Hill Records Sampler '88" LP}
05. Bright Tiger - Acoustic Alchemy{from the "Blue Chip" LP}
06. Brooklyn At Midnight - Stanley Jordan{from the "Flying Home" LP}
07. Bethany Beach - Special EFX{from the "Slice of Life" LP}
08. Horizons I - Ralf Illenberger{from the "The Narada Collection, Vol. 2" LP}
09. Never Say Die - Michael Franks{from the "Passionfruit" LP}
10. Formal Invitation - Special EFX{from the "Slice of Life" LP}
11. Gwenlaise - Eugene Friesen/Scott Cossu{from the "Windham Hill Sampler '86" LP}
12. Because It's There - Michael Hedges{from the "Windham Hill Sampler '86" LP}
13. Stairway To Heaven - Stanley Jordan{from the "Flying Home" LP}
14. Sunday Morning Here With You - Michael Franks{from the "Passionfruit" LP}
intro underscore music: Todd Kelley
outro underscore music: Nicolay
photo: InterfaceLIFE/MasterChief
First, we're happy to announce that the team has identified and fixed the issue with the YouTube conduit; you can now find and add videos from YouTube to your library and posts. As always, thanks for your patience!
The other news we have today is about a new addition to the Six Apart family: TypePad Micro, a new free level of TypePad that is streamlined for microblogging. We see a new form of blogging emerging that lives between the quick status updates of Twitter and Facebook and the long-form posts of "classic" blogging; TypePad Micro is designed to meet that need. You can read more about TypePad Micro in Chris Alden's post on the Everything TypePad blog.
A lot of the new capabilities we've added to TypePad this year were actually inspired by some of the best things about Vox: favoriting, member profiles, a dashboard to follow other bloggers, and easy ways to post content from other social media sites. But the things that make Vox different from TypePad are still there: Vox has always been -- and still is -- the best place for "friends and family" blogging, where you're in control over who sees what. TypePad, on the other hand, is built for the blogger who wants, no, craves, attention.
Do you have a passion or interest you want to share with people beyond your Vox neighborhood? If so, we'd love it if you tried out TypePad Micro. Maybe you've always wanted to start that obsessive blog that's just about waffle restaurants. Or want a place to share videos of your favorite band (Jonas Brothers, anyone? Anyone? ...). TypePad Micro's great for those topic-specific blogs. Take it for a spin and let us know what you think.
On the Vox front, our designers are working on some cool new themes (coming soon!). We'd also love to hear your thoughts about where we should take Vox in the coming year. What are the key things you'd like to see for Vox? If you've had a chance to use TypePad this year, what are the features there that we should bring over to Vox? And, if you're thinking big thoughts, how could we connect the Vox and TypePad communities in order to bring together bloggers and their shared passions? Your feedback is really important to us, so please leave a comment here, or shoot me a message.
And again, thanks for your patience as we found and fixed the YouTube bug!
~ daisy
As many of you have noticed, the YouTube Conduit is not working. I am so sorry about this; I know how frustrating it is.
The team is looking into how to get this fixed and I will update you as soon as I hear something. In the meantime, not all is lost... There is a work-around for posting videos.
When you're in the Compose Screen, just click on "embed." Ignore the fact that it says "Widget" before everything because you can definitely use this to embed videos as well. You'll just need to input the embed code from the video, enter a title (if you want) and hit OK.
It might not show up perfectly in your compose screen, but when you hit "Save," your video should appear just the way you wanted it to.
Hopefully this will allow you to keep posting videos while we figure out what's happening on our end.
As always, thanks for your patience.
My Groups
-
Apologetics Updated: 12 hours ago
-
Rethinking The Church & Its Relationship to the Community Updated: 12 hours ago
-
Jesus is Lord Updated: 12 hours ago
Neighborhood
Explore friends, family, friends & family, or entire neighborhood.
Links from my Neighborhood
RIBS TPTD: GET OUT AND VOTE...
Here is our latest podcast collaboration effort that the ...
Roxy: Just me today, as alw...
it's very........ uh, English. Reminded me of someone. No...
THE Saturday Songs: De La S...
HAPPY SATURDAY! Ya know...I think we've forgotten to show...
