CRWRC Laos Video

A few months ago I helped make a promotional video for CRWRC Laos. Actually, I only wrote some of the script and accompanied the Lao National TV crew while filming. The primary audience for this video are fellow NGOs and the Lao government. As such, it may be a bit amusing for North American audiences. Also, it is 20 minutes long, so feel free to skip the boring parts. The first 3-5 min introduce CRWRC’s development work; the middle section explores each sector (health, agriculture, education, road building, and leadership); the final 5 minutes shows a village envisioning its future and how that fits with CRWRC’s goals.

Sufjan Stevens Christmas Album

[EDIT] I removed all the links from this post because the album is now available from the iTunes Music Store. Search for it there. Buy it for a reasonable price. Support Sufjan.

To all those Sufjan fans out there, I have an early Christmas gift. Sufjan Stevens recorded three mini Christmas albums for fans over the past year, and they are only available online. You can burn them all onto one CD. I’m listening to it now and it’s great!

Sufjan Stevens Christmas Album

If you’d rather save that website’s bandwidth, then download them from my computer: (warning: a bit slower…)

Vol. I Hark! Songs for Christmas (23MB)

Vol. II Hark! Songs for Christmas (33MB)

Vol. III Hark! Songs for Christmas (33MB)

Jars of Clay: At the Fringe of CCM?

I am crossposting this from my ideas blog, metikos.com: part of a brief essay on Jars of Clay.
metikos: Jars of Clay: At the Fringe of CCM?

My current term paper for the class is an extension of this idea… although I’m not entirely sure where I may end up with it. Ah, well… I’ll figure that out over the next 30 hours.

Jars of Clay: At the Fringe of CCM?

Preview of coming attraction: here is something I wrote a month ago for my favorite class of the semester, Popular Music Criticism with Dr. Chris Smit. I am currently working on my term paper on the same topic, some of which I may reshape and repost here. I’m not sure anymore of my thesis (that Jars of Clay is at the borderlands of CCM… they might be right at the heart) but I’m going to work through the paper and see where I end up. I’ll let you know what I conclude.

I realized anew the nature of Christian Contemporary Music as I sat in the FAC during the recent Jars of Clay concert. Having spent several years outside of CCM circles, I sensed something different in the air that night and it made me feel uneasy. What was it that sparked my discomfort? What was different about the attitude of those concertgoers (not the usual Calvin crowd), the purposes of the producers, and the intentions of the artists? Whatever it was, if I can put my finger on it I may be nearer to an answer to the questions, What is CCM and What does a Christian approach to popular music look like?

aqualung

So I just came back from the aqualung concert, and I must admit I was slightly disappointed. Maybe it’s that I wasn’t exactly in the concert-mood, but I thought the opening bands were mediocre. Although aqualung was better, I got the feeling that these were bands that would come and go, pass by and not leave a major mark on musical history. None of the bands were particularly innovative or unique – just more electric guitars and jaded love songs.

My housemate Elly labelled The Perishers as “Swedish emo”, which I thought was right on. They gave away free samplers with a few live songs – a brilliant marketing move, if you ask me.

I guess my big mistake of the night was breaking rule #2 of Calvin concert-going: make prior arrangements to go with someone; never go alone. Thankfully, Elly gave me a ride there and back, but I would have really liked to be with some friends. It’s kinda lonely during the intermissions when there’s no one to talk to.

On another note, I’m excited that my sister Sarah is in GR for a few days, staying at my house. I love being with her!