These are a few of my favorite (music videos)

I thought I'd try for something a little lighter for a bit.

I love music. Love it. I have a large collection (I know there are plenty of people with collections larger than my ~ 500 CD's), covering a wide range of styles (country, classical, nu metal, symphonic metal, new age, trance, jazz, electronic, hip hop, synth pop, classic rock....),and artists (Mozart, Destiny's child, Dolls Head, AngelZoom, the Corrs, A-ha, Collin Raye, Enya, Manheim Steamroller, VinylGroover, Daft Punk, La Bouche, Milk Inc....).

I'm not quite so big on music videos. Some are... well... ok.... nothing special really, many are painfully repetitious, either relying on booty shakin' innuendo, or dramatic shocky-artsy-fartsy without a point (okay, that's entirely personal opinion, and not very politely presented. I apologize to those I offended).

But there are a few Music Videos I truly enjoy. Either for artistic reasons, or for the message they present. So here (in no particular order) are a few posts highlighting a few of my favorites (feel free to suggest others, always on the lookout for new stuff).


1. Adele - Rolling in The Deep
2. Garth Brooks - Standing Outside The Fire
3. Nickleback - (2 songs)
4. Piano Guys - 4 Songs
5. Linkin Park
6. Lindsey Stirling

Favorite Videos - Piano Guys

These Guys are a more recent find. They are tremendously fun to watch, and incredibly talented. It is hard to just pick a few of theirs to post here. But here are a few of my favorites from The Piano Guys.

Michael Meets Mozart

Cello Wars

All of Me

Paradise (Peponi)

Favorite Videos - Nickelback

This post gets two videos, both by the same artists. As with Standing outside the fire. I enjoy these two both for the music and the message.

The first,"Savin Me" has a very novel story. It is well done, touching and cleverly executed. It includes a few very nice touches (like the expecting mother), that give it a very nice emotional appeal. (As a super power it would probably be at least as depressing to have is it was cool...)

This song itself, well, it reminds me of a few prayers I have said in my time...

Number two, carries a very promising message, what the world could be "If everyone card"

If everyone cared and nobody cried
If everyone loved and nobody lied
If everyone shared and swallowed their pride
Then we'd see the day when nobody died

The video tells four stories of individuals who cared, and made a difference. It is another good one to recharge to.

Favorite Videos - Garth Brooks

I like this video both for the song, and the story it tells. It reminds me a bit of "The Race" by D. H. Groberg. I don't know if it was in any way an influence....

To me, this story conveys a message to recognize our weaknesses, and accept them, but not be defined by them. I can't watch this video with out feeling a bolstering of my resolve...

My favorite Videos - Rolling

I selected this video purely for artistic reasons.

First, the singers voice is INCREDIBLE! Rich, full, strong, controlled... Adele is amazing. I was quite suprised when I heard an interview with her, and discovered that she was not of southern rock/blues origin (I didn't even guess the right continent!). Just listening to her sing is a treat.

Then there is the video itself.

This is a video I want to watch in high def on a gi-normous screen. The stark, crisp imagery fits the song very well. The hundred (thousands? of water glasses and seismic effect is very cool, as is the smashing dishware against the plywood board. The use of color is poignant. The visuals are well thought out, with tremendous attention to detail.

Even more cool is the paper city on the table. The  white smoke and sparks are a great bit of imagery.

The highlight though is the flour dancing.  What an incredibly cool effect! Haze, "Explosions", "Smoke trails", all linked to the graceful flow of a dancing silhouette.

Love it.

A Mormon president: Do I really want one?

Perhaps it doesn’t make sense that, as a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, I am not really sure I want a Mormon to win the presidency. But I do find myself sitting on the fence emotionally.

Generally speaking, it really shouldn’t matter. Let’s assume he is a relatively typical “mainstream Mormon”. Then his guiding Values are:

1. A belief in God, and Jesus Christ – That isn’t really a crucial quality for a president, I suppose… I do think there is something to be said for having a president who believes in a higher power. We need all the divine help we can get.
2. A belief in choice and accountability – A Mormon president would generally be on the side of individual rights, with the caveat that the individual making the choice be accountable for those choices. With specific regard to religious freedom, one of the 13 Articles of Faith – a set of fundamental beliefs of the church – states “We claim the privilege of worshiping almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.”
3. Careful Compassion – The LDS church has a fairly amazing welfare system. It is based on the idea of helping individual in need to become self-reliant. Instead of handing out money, they provide the basic necessities – food, clothing, they provide career mentoring and financial counseling. Welfare efforts are focused on helping people to become productive and self-sufficient again. It is a model our government welfare administrators would do well to mirror. Unlike doubters in this forum, I think it could be successfully scaled. 

Sounds like desirable qualities in a President (or any leader for that matter).  So then why the reluctance on my part? Why am I uncertain about having a Mormon for president?

Because nobody is perfect, and because everyone will be watching him. Everything he does will be reflected onto the church.  If he has a weird quirk of personality, a strange personal belief, and undesirable character flaw. It will be attributed to his religion. If he fails to live the fundamental principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, it will be portrayed as an example of the hypocrisy of the religion.

I don’t know either of the LDS candidates personally (Though as I write this, Mr. Huntsman is no longer running, so Mr. Romney is now the person of interest). I don’t know that I trust either one of them to represent my faith.

Silly of me, isn't it?

Health Update 14 Jan

An update on my health game...

The Farina (I said Cream of Wheat, but it was Farina) week seemed to go well. No noticeable problems. It did occur to me, that quantity may be a factor, in addition to food type. Perhaps a small bowl of Farina every morning is fine, but more than one bowl a day, or a bowl of that plus some other grain is too much. Not sure what the best way will be to test that yet.

The week after that I tried rice. I had some problems, but, That was also the week I lowered my medication dosage again (down to one pill every other day), so it is possible that the rice was not the problem. I will need to re-test once I am stable again. I am stable now, and just starting another run at pork (fingers crossed). I could really use a bit more variety. Chicken and turkey is a pretty limited protein pool. fish is okay, and good - I have really been enjoying the occasional steel-head, baked with butter, dill and lemon, but fish is mostly $5 or more a pound, so I really can't do that too terribly often.