Happy Holidays!

The Pictures and what it took to take them:

Music

Music is an extremely important value in my life. I like a broad range of musical styles and periods. It's been thisway since I was 14 years old. My first cassettes were Brahsm, Mozart, and Motley Crue. I'm not sure why I'm so passionately interested in music as against the other fine arts, which I appreciate, but can live without. It's such an important value that I couldn't possibly consider a romance with someone that didn't love music as well.

As much as I love music, there is very little of it that I love--does that make sense? What I mean is that I am very judicious with my musical choices, but I spend a great deal of time listening to music I love, and seeking out new music to love. A rare gift is when someone introduces me to an artist that I have not previously heard and I end up liking. This morning a work buddy sent me a link to a performance of a concerto for guitar that is simply beautiful. The composer is Joaquin Rodrigo, and the guitar is played by Narciso Yepes.

In addition, I've recently become very interested in a speed-metal band called Dragon Force. They're probably the fastest, heaviest band I've ever heard--yet they still manage to remain melodic. They're songs have an epic quality reminiscent of Iron Maiden and Helloween--only more so. I've bought all three of their albums and have been listening to them pretty much non-stop for the last few weeks. Good stuff!

When Religion is Funny

Religion is so absurd. How people can believe in a magic man in the sky is beyond me. That's why I really enjoyed these two gems today. The first is a video of a man that gets so fed up with people knocking on his door proselytizing to him that he flys to Utah and starts knocking on doors proselytizing peope about atheism. Simply classic. The second is a list of Bible verses that you don't hear the fundamentalists trot out very often, as they don't exactly paint a benevolent (or even sensical) picture of their magic man in the sky.

Enjoy!

Environmentalist Intimidation

A buddy of mine sent me a link to this article detailing intimidation tactics by two US Senators on ExxonMobil to push an environmentalist agenda. Thought you'd be interested.