A curmudgeon might reasonably point out, “Why the blue hell do I need to talk about ‘mind grapes’ when the word ‘mind’ is working just fine?” Well, as Cosmo Kramer once asked, “Why go to a fine restaurant when you can just stick something in the microwave? Why go to the park and fly a kite when you can just pop a pill?” Language isn’t always about brevity. People like to be clever, and they like to reference clever shows like 30 Rock. Whether that makes you blurgh or liz is up to you.

(via The Language of 30 Rock)

I love this piece about how 30 Rock invents words that get thrown into our cultural lexicon. I personally love using the term “thoughtsicles” as an alternative to “mind grapes.” Tracy came up with that one, too.

Language is a funny thing. We say all sorts of seemingly useless crap that we get from TV, movies, music, YouTube and Urban Dictionary. A physical printed dictionary could never keep up; it’s a wonder people even care what new words get added to Webster’s list every year.

Side note: I also enjoyed how the article used Twitter as a means to prove their point of real-world usage. Mark that down as another possible purpose for tweeting, or at least the value for researchers found in otherwise inane collections of 140-ish characters.

I love Scott Adams. I read his blog daily and enjoy many of his thought experiments and meanderings. I was a fan of his comic Dilbert by the time I hit 7th grade. Yeah, I was that kid. I suppose it’s no surprise I had an office job by the time I was 16.

So why it took so long to get around to reading God’s Debris — his short, free thought experiment of a book — is a mystery to me. I literally started last night and finished this morning. It was, as expected, an easy read that was thoroughly thought-provoking.

The entire book is a conversation between two men. One is teaching the other his theory on life, the universe and everything based on the simplest explanations for everything.

The climactic idea they reach is this: God, being omnipotent and all-knowing, can know everything except what would happen were He to no longer exist. So in an effort to maintain His omniscience, He destroys himself. This destruction is our Big Bang, and the entire existence of the universe is a collection of His debris, slowly reformulating into a single consciousness as God recollects himself back into His all-powerful self.

Yeah, it sounds crazy and weird. That’s what’s so fun about it. And the fact that Adams explains it so easily only makes it that much better of a read.

I highly recommend God’s Debris for anyone who enjoys exploring philosophy and religion. You can download it as a free PDF and it’s a very quick read, so there’s not much excuse not to read it.

Yet another Scott Hahn book. In other words, another book arguing in favor of Catholicism from a guy who used to be a Presbyterian minister and theologian.

This one is an examination of the Catholic Mass, explaining many of its parts, but mostly looking at it from the context of the book of Revelation. He argues, rather convincingly, that Armageddon is the current time we are in and that, while we are in the midst of Mass, we are actually in heaven, and not just symbolically. Instead of looking at political events in search of the end times, he matches up almost every key aspect of the final book of the Bible with an aspect of Mass. I won’t list those things off here because, well, there’s a lot of them. Plus, I’m no expert at Catholicism or the book of Revelation so a lot of it was new to me.

This book will be surprising to most evangelicals, who try to draw parallels with current events while they flip through Revelation, but (this was surprising to me) many educated in the Catholic tradition won’t find much of this new at all. It became clear to me as I was reading that Revelation was written with the Church and Mass in mind, not as some wacked-out prophecy about how the world will end. Sure, it was written in a strange format, but it’s impressive how much of it lines up with the procession of Mass and the overall structure of the Church.

Like I said, I won’t try to argue in favor of the ideas presented in The Lamb’s Supper because I’d fail quickly. But if you’re interested in end times theology, the Catholic Mass or finding heaven on earth, this will be an eye-opening book for you.

Live music, when done right, is life itself. Messy, with warts. You try to get it right, but no one’s life is perfection. You battle the mistakes.

There’s no ideal beauty. Even though actresses all plump their lips in pursuit of an elusive ideal. Hell, remake yourself until you lose your identity, like Jennifer Grey or Leeza Gibbons. What turns us on are your imperfections!

But I didn’t hear one imperfection tonight.

…

I saw better playing in Nashville in a bar than you see at most major shows. I felt it. Music isn’t dead, but the business is trying to kill it. You might think Ashlee Simpson doing a hoedown when the tape breaks on SNL is long in the past, but that mainstream game is not completely dead, unlike Ms. Simpson’s career.

(via Lefsetz Letter – Mika At The Palladium)

Lefsetz strikes again!

A live show is a unique thing. The music industry would die without them. It’s why a lot of die-hard fans collect bootlegs of shows. (I’ve got handfuls of bootlegs from bands I love; every one is amazing and unique and re-listenable.) If you turn the music into a repeat of yesterday’s show, the business of your band is going to be limited and, unless you’re spending a LOT of time in the studio making new stuff, it’s going to wither out and die. Maybe not now, but it’ll happen. It’s like living on a diet of corn syrup and MSG; it’ll kill you eventually.

I’d rather see a band screwing up, engaging with their audience and fighting with their own humanity in order to bring you the best show they can. It shows a dedication and love for the fans, the music and the passion that pushing a button on a computer will never be able to mimick.

I’ve been excited about the effects of this recession. No, seriously. When the natural consequences of our irresponsibility arise, there is no choice but to adapt, learn from our mistakes and figure out how to be more responsible.

This video gives me hope for what might happen. The signs of hope seem small right now, but perhaps a few more years of this will help them to grow.

I especially love the part technology is playing in this. It’s amazing how it’s helping people work together to find ways to save money, spend it wisely and use the resources we have in the best way possible.

Sometimes I try to come up with ideas for how, as a web developer, I can play a larger part in promoting the responsibility of our culture. Do I build a directory for food co-ops? A wiki where people share tips on how they’ve saved on groceries or their gas bill? A Facebook application for ride-sharing?

Does anyone have any ideas for how the Internet, social networking or mobile technology would help you find ways to promote sustainability, local community and responsible living? Maybe we can do something together.

A few years ago (2005 or so, I think?) I happened upon the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. It is exactly what it sounds like. A group of music historians and critics and journalists got together and decided what 1001 albums from 1950 to now are the ones everyone should hear before they die. (Important note: They weren’t necessarily out to find the best albums, just the ones that are the most significant for whatever reason.)

Being in major exploration mode at the time, and having an unlimited Rhapsody subscription, I found a copy of the full list and got to work.

Today, I finished. I listened to every album from start to finish, to the best of my ability. I took a few breaks in there, and when I got down to the final few that were difficult to seek out, the pace slowed. But today, I am done.

What did I learn? I learned that a lot of older music is hard to appreciate without proper context (having the book handy might have helped with that). I learned that Frank Sinatra and Tom Waits are awesome and Joan Baez is not. I learned that people were doing some pretty inventive stuff well before I imagined anyone would have tried. I learned that a lot of the best music in the world takes several listens to enjoy.

But most of all I learned that, when music historians look back in history, these last 50 years are going to mark a very important milestone in the timeline of music. It was recordable and reproducible and, as a result, everyone learned tricks from everyone else all over the world. Ginger Baker (British drummer who played in Cream) collaborated with Fela Kuti, the premiere musician in African pop in the 60s and 70s, whose influence over world music is still heard today.

The point is, music has changed our culture, and every culture, in the past century in ways that it had never before. And as a fan of music, it’s exciting that I’ve gotten a good sampling of the hottest part of that timeline.

Will I ever do a listening project of this magnitude ever again? Probably not. But it was worth it.

Now, someone buy me the book as a trophy, please.

You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you dies each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintry light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen. When the cold rains kept on and killed the spring, it was as though a young person had died for no reason.

Ernest Hemingway

I don’t think I have SAD, or if I do, it’s a very mild variety. All I know is that when the fall comes around, my mind goes into overdrive, pushing me into a place where I analyze my place in the world.

Maybe it’s because school always started in the fall, or that autumn ushers away long, sunny days, but fall always brings about an analytical side of me and a sense of urgency for spring to arrive.

The combination of being in Nashville (where fall is much more obvious than here), seeing and saying goodbye to my girlfriend and brother far too quickly, a few dark nights and a few weights I carry on my shoulders, this time of year has arrived.

It feels like sitting in a dark room just after twilight; that period of time when you’re wrapped up in a book in an empty house, the sun is going down and it’s just getting to the point where you need to turn on a light or start a fire to continue reading. It’s comfortable, but slightly off-center. There’s a sense of loneliness, but while still knowing there is company a room away.

For me, fall has a soundtrack. mewithoutYou’s second and third albums, Ryan Adams’s Love is Hell, Neko Case, Joshua James. They’re all sad, full of thought and despair, looking back on better times.

I know this seems dark, but I welcome this every year. It’s a part of who I am, and it’s the one emotional season I am guaranteed to experience year by year, regardless of the circumstances.

Is there anyone else who feels the sadness of fall?

In a world where there can be instant availability of all music, the major labels want to sell CDs. They’re afraid to piss off Wal-Mart, and they’re sacrificing their audience to other forms of media. The transition to digital distribution is wrenching. But you’ve got to see the opportunities. Believe me, if Spotify launched its free version in America, there’d be instant hysteria. Akin to the early days of Napster.

Don’t think Spotify doesn’t pay for the music. It does. It’s just banking on building a bigger business, willing to lose money now in order to make tons tomorrow. The music business is unwilling to risk, labels and publishers are desperately trying to keep their old creaky business model functioning. This is a recipe for death. We’re on the cusp of a golden age of music. The only people standing in the way are us.

(via Lefsetz Letter – More E-Books)

My girlfriend got me started reading the Lefsetz Letter a couple weeks ago and it’s already paying off in spades. This guy gets it, just like everybody else except, well… the guys running the music industry.

Every week I want an e-book reader more and more. Just reading about the Kindle makes me want to read more books.

For all-you-can-eat music, I’ve been using Rhapsody for years. It works well enough, but it isn’t ideal. I really can’t wait to see what Spotify has to offer when the stodgy old guys finally realize it isn’t going to kill their already-dying industry.

My girlfriend was a music business major. She has gone (and continues to go) to many seminars and panels on the current state of the industry. Almost every industry guest speaker that came in told her and her classmates, “Hey, we messed up the industry and we don’t know how to fix it, so it’s up to you guys to figure that out.” One time, after hearing maybe the tenth guest speaker say this, my girl stood up and said, “So why don’t you quit so we can have your job?” Tally one more on the “reasons I love this girl” board.

Does anyone else notice the issue here? She’s making the argument that homeschooled kids are normal while not being quite normal herself. I would flip the stats and say that about 80% of the homeschooled kids I’ve met are weird.

Also, she’s listing off “cool” people that were homeschooled, and names mostly historical figures instead of people we know that are alive today. Who knows if they were weird or awkward? Not me. Though I’ll bet Darwin was a weirdo. Plus, weren’t most people pre-1900 homeschooled in some form anyway? So using them as examples makes no sense.

I have a theory, though: the fact that homeschooled kids are weird usually (not always) has something to do with their parents, not the homeschooling itself. In other words, the kind of parents that prefer to homeschool are going to have weird kids whether or not they actually homeschool them, just by the environment they’re raised in.

There’s absolutely no way to prove that, of course. Just a theory.

Am I the only one that finds it weird when you talk to people online that you don’t know in person, speak about personal things, grow some sense of a friendship or acquaintanceship with them, and then when you meet them in person, they still feel the need to shake your hand and say “nice to meet you”?

I’ve been on a casual date or two where we talked online for a while before arranging a meeting. I’ve become friends with my girlfriend’s friends on Facebook and Twitter and had conversations there, and yet it’s weird when I hug them like a friend rather than shake their hand and say “nice to meet you” even though, in many ways, we’ve already met.

This is a new thing, obviously, and only pertains to a small number of people on the Internet. A lot of you feel like it’s dangerous to meet people from the Internet, which seems silly to me, but that’s a different issue. The point is that there seem to be differing views on how well we know people that we’ve never shared a room with but have still had personal conversations with.

Does there need to be something in between a hug and a handshake for those of us that “know” each other virtually when we meet in person? This Internet thing doesn’t seem to be going away, so perhaps it’s time.