It’s been a while since I made a list like this. So, in light of the fact that I’ve discovered my fair share of fresh music (well, fresh to me), I thought this morning would be as good a time as any.

In no particular order, this is some new music that I have really enjoyed.

	Billie The Vision & The Dancers The World According to Pablo Fun. An obvious South American influence. Catchy as hell. Just about every song has you trying to sing along before the song is even over. Notable Tracks 1. Nightmares 2. One More Full Length Record 3. Vamos A Basarnos 4. Go to Hell
	The Pipettes We Are The Pipettes Girl band pop at its best. Also, I’m pretty sure I like anything that sounds like it’s heavily influenced by 50’s prom music. Notable Tracks 1. Pull Shapes
	Darwin Deez Darwin Deez Something like the Smiths meets something catchy and not so annoying. Notable Tracks 1. Radar Detector
	The Magic Numbers The Magic Numbers Catchy indie-pop-rock. Plus, they make me constantly reminisce about the Oneders, and every one of their awesome songs. Notable Tracks 1. Forever Lost
	Michael Bublé Crazy Love & Call Me Irresponsible & With Love No one told this guy that Rat Pack jazz ended a long time ago. But I’m not complaining because it’s about time a pop singer has a legitimately good voice. Notable Tracks 1. Haven’t Met You Yet 2. Can’t Help Falling in Love 3. Everything 4. Lost
	Tom McRea Tom McRea & King of Cards Tom McRea is mellow, awesomely sad music. Imagine Damien Rice meets emo worship music. Notable Tracks 1. The End of the World News 2. You Cut Her Hair 3. The Boy With the Bubblegun 4. The Ballad Of Amelia Earhart
	Kenna Make Sure They See My Face & New Sacred Cow If U2 and Radiohead had a baby somehow, I imagine it’d be something like Kenna. Notable Tracks 1. Baptized in Blacklight 2. Hell Bent

I feel a little like I’m beating a dead horse, even though I know this post isn’t really. It comes in a similar vain to the posts of the last few days.

Did you know it’s possible to enjoy most things? Let me be more specific. Did you know that it’s okay to enjoy the classically lame tunes of Nsync; Footloose in all of its cheesy glory; hell, even old episodes of Full House!

When I speak to people, especially younger people, I get this consistent sense of the entertainment taboos. I don’t know who’s coming up with this stuff, but it’s really annoying and frankly, pointless. Even within the same genre of music, the Postal Service is okay to listen to, but Owl City is ‘gay’. Barring my own annoyance at people using that word in that way, it’s also just plain irrational.

Sometime around 19 or 20 I made private commitment to myself to enjoy whatever I enjoy. And I know, I’ve probably written about this before. But see, I realized at that time, if I’m totally honest, I can’t deny that I enjoy the sound of most music. I enjoy most movies I watch. There were all kinds of things coming out of the entertainment industry that I “didn’t like”, but not for any reason that involved what I was actually seeing or hearing.

What I realized at that time when I made that commitment to myself was that my dislikes were mostly ideological or social. Meaning something to the effect of not liking Owl City because it was a lame rip-off of the “real stuff” the Postal Service was making. I wouldn’t have liked the Twilight series because it was full of cheap gimmicks. Nevermind the fact that Owl City is catchy and fun, and the Twilight series is plenty entertaining.

For some reason, for a lot of people, being entertaining or being catchy isn’t good enough to give permission to enjoy something. That is very stupid and it’s a self deprivation that’s based on almost nothing.

See, I feel that I’ve discovered an important distinction. There are some kinds of entertainment that are fun and just plain entertaining, then there are some that should also be respected.

What do I mean by that? I mean that I can enjoy and have fun with the catchy tunes from Owl City, but I can respect The Postal Service. This is an important distinction. With this mental divide, my ideological and social qualms with some particular piece of entertainment cannot prevent me from enjoying something which, in a vacuum, I would find quite fun. Now,  it’s very rare that I hear something that I simply do not like. I rarely watch something that I really don’t enjoy. It may still take a lot to impress me, but not to entertain me.

So, let me suggest something to you. Do you often find yourself scoffing at the latest theatrical release? Do you often find yourself rolling your eyes when the latest auto-tuned disfigurement grazes the car speakers? Ask yourself this—If I knew nothing of this artist, of the current state of music or movies or tv, if I had no idea what my peers thought of this, would I still roll my eyes? Would I still scoff? I’m willing to bet, with reasonable confidence, that if most people are honest with themselves, they’d say that yeah, they enjoy it.

There it is. There will be the proof that you are unnecessarily barring yourself from enjoying much more than you already are.

From my own experience, I strongly encourage you to make the distinction I’ve made. Find the artists and the art that you respect, but allow yourself to enjoy whatever you want. It’s freeing. It’s fun. And, it makes it much easier to share interests with more people, more often. I assure you, you won’t regret it.

Cause lets be honest, climbing a tree, playing tag, or a good round of sardines may be childish, but it’s fun. And likewise, Lady Gaga may be cheesy, but the music sure is a hoot to listen to.

I went to go see the Christopher Nolan movie Inception last night. Visually, the movie was gorgeous. The cast was stellar. The characters were compelling. The dialogue was more than believable. The story line intriguing and thought provoking. The movie was near flawless in its execution, near perfect in its final state.

But by the end of the movie, I couldn’t care less. I didn’t feel compelled to clap. I didn’t feel like I really wanted, or needed to know what happened to our characters after the credits rolled. I didn’t wish for a sequel. Hell, I didn’t even get online to see what other people thought about it. It was apathy at its best. Well, apathy mixed with anger and disillusionment. Can you do that?

Why? Because by the time I got to the movie, it was nothing more than a series of moving images that were, or were not going to live up to people’s outrageously over spoken praises. It was something to be graded and critiqued.

In spite of my best efforts to avoid looking at IMDB ratings, Rottentomatos and the endless stream of Facebook status updates, there are some times when you simply can’t get away from the vile, infectious chatter.

See, the problem for me is this. A movie has not simply to live up to or exceed the hype. It’s not as simple as it being ‘as good as people say’. Inception was every bit as good as people say. A movie has to truly draw me in so that how good it may be is the farthest thing from my mind. The problem with hype is not that the movie may not live up to it. The problem with hype and incessant fan-ramblings, is that I am now watching for the hype. Constantly thinking, this is good, or this is not as good as people said. I watch and assess. This keeps me firmly planted in my world, instead of being free to be drawn into theirs.

I watched the first trailer for Inception when it came out in theaters about 8 – 9 months ago. Since then, I’ve been quietly, and hesitantly, excited. Unwilling to risk $15 to see a movie on opening night that I knew nothing about, I waited. By the time a week had passed, it was too late. I’d lost any opportunity to fully appreciate one of the best movies to come out in years. Something that, for some reason, is very important to me.

If I were you, I’d save my $15 and wait a year or so and watch it on DVD. From now on, how about we limit our public movie-related comments to, “_______ was a good movie, you should see it”. Instead of, “OMFG, it was the best thing I’ve ever seen, I can die now because my life is complete now that I’ve seen the greatest movie of all time. And you’re the biggest idiot because you have seen it yet, OMG OMG OMG!”

Just for the record, I may sound like I’m joking and I am, in part. But the greater part of me is, in fact, really ticked off.

My crusade against children’s entertainment continues. Always. I’ve always seemed to focus on how children’s entertainment sexualizes children far too quickly. And, in the process, gives girls a poor sense of self and boys a poor sense of chivalry—or whatever the corresponding idea of today might be.

But this presents something I hadn’t considered. Most of us know that entertainment’s portrayal of love has helped lead to a void of romantic satisfaction among millions of Americans. What I hadn’t considered, however, is how early those ideas are being fed to our children.

Tom McRae has recorded quite a song in My Vampire Heart. I’m having difficulty placing it—perhaps it was in Twilight or True Blood or something along those lines. It’s hard to say, however, as it appears neither Tom McRae nor the song in specific seem to have a Wikipedia entry.

Regardless, the song is outstanding.

(can’t see the video? watch it on YouTube)

Darling I’m lost
Adrift in the dark
I’m clutching your words
To my vampire heart once more
So let in the light
Turn me to dust
If it don’t end in Bloodshed dear
It’s probably not love

Here we are
In the darkest place
My reflection
Shows only your face

Something is found
Something is lost
Went looking for clues
On the streets of old New York
And I spilled someone’s blood
I broke someone’s heart again
Someone you know
You’re looking at him my friend

And the people in our lives
We all leave behind
Leave behind

Here we are
In the darkest place
To keep from forgetting
I picture your face
And I wonder
While we count the cost
Which is sweeter
Love or it’s loss

So I curse you
My vampire heart
For letting me love you
Love you
For letting me love you
From the start

(can’t see the video? watch it on youtube!)

We made this video back in 2003-ish in one evening. I lost ambition in the middle of making the video and thus the abrupt ending.

Is this a reasonable way to poke fun at Christians? Unfortunately, I think so. But man, it’s pretty funny.