MuteMath’s Armistice: First Impressions

MuteMath.  Probably one of the most eclectic and electrifying bands I have ever discovered.  I might not have found them if it were not for Collin Obremski introducing me to their video for Typical one night at his house during a party or hanging out.  I could probably describe their sound as a mix of rock and roll meets electronica meets pure energy.  It’s the kind of music that transcends mainstream music and goes above and beyond it.  In case you have not heard of MuteMath, do yourself a favor and check them out.  In case I need to convince you even more, here is their video for Spotlight from their new record Armistice due out on August 18th, 2009:

The VIP Package

Last Wednesday,  I was lucky enough to be one of the select few across the country to hear Armistice at a listening party on MuteMath’s tour bus before it’s release.  I was able to meet Greg from MuteMath and their roadie Jordan (who is pretty darn hilarious in some of the video blogs).  I purchased two VIP packages for the Armistice concert tour for myself and Alison which included the following:

• Concert tickets to MuteMath’s concert at the Ogden theater in Denver on October 14
• VIP pass for advance entry into the concert before the general public.  The concert is general admission so there is no assigned seating.  This alone was worth the cost of purchasing our VIP packages.
• Lithograph of Armistice’s album cover
• T-shirt with the Armistice album cover and MuteMath logo
• An awesome MuteMath bag
• B-side digital downloads of The Nerve, Armistice (2nd Line Version) feat. Rebirth Brass Band, and Valium @320kbps
• Digital download of Armistice on August 18th, 2009 @320kbps
• Invitation to the MuteMath Mobile Listening Party (MMLP) in Denver on July 15th, 2009.
• Membership in MuteMath’s first fan club.  This isn’t advertised on MuteMath’s website in the description of the VIP package for the Armistice tour, but it is included as a perk.

MuteMath Tour Bus (Right Side)

MuteMath Tour Bus (Front)

MuteMath Tour Bus (Left Side)

Inside the MuteMath Tour Bus during the MMLP

Armistice Lithograph and Concert Flyer

MuteMath T-Shirt, VIP Pass, and bag

Take note, this VIP package IS worth the price of admission if you are a fan of MuteMath and want to see them live in concert.

First Impressions of Armistice

The sound of the new album, Armistice, is for a lack of a better word, incredible.  It is completely different from their first record and self-titled release.  I can’t remember what every song sounded like as I have only heard it once, but it has a great mix of tempo, genres, and variety of different instruments.  I am by no means a musical expert, but here are my thoughts about some of the songs I do remember:

• Armistice (2nd Line Version) feat. Rebirth Brass Band – The version I have heard is from the B-sides download for Armistice but I believe it is also on the final LP with some changes. It has an incredible jazz feel to it that pays tribute to past decades.  If I knew how to swing dance, this would be a fun one to swing dance to!  This is another favorite of mine.
• Burden - starts out fast paced and switches to a slower tempo about halfway through.  I am not sure, but I think there may have been a secret track at the end of this when it switches to the slower tempo.  Either way, it sounds amazing.  I literally had goosebumps listening to this one.  It was THAT good.
• Lost Year – It reminded me of a story of a romance.  From the start of the song to the end of it, I couldn’t seem to get enough of it.  It had a somewhat slow tempo, but the tempo definitely suited the song.
• Spotlight - I didn’t like Spotlight at first, but it has definately grown on me immensely the more I’ve listened to it.  It’s pretty fast paced.  My favorite part is probably when the song stops halfway through and all hear is clapping.  It’s a nice pause that ties the song together.
• The Nerve – fast paced, pretty freaking awesome sounding.  If you like Typical, you will LOVE The Nerve.  The lyrics and instruments are perfectly put together.  It is probably one of my personal favorites so far.
• Valium (B-side digital download only) – Slow tempo.  One of those songs you can sit back, close your eyes, and relax to as you unwind from a long day.  I wish this song had made it to the final LP, but according to Greg from MuteMath, they just couldn’t seem to find a place for it.

As a sophmore record, MuteMath has definitely outdone themselves.  Their first record was awesome, but Armistice is a completely different sound and represents a new direction for the band.  I cannot wait until August 18th, 2009 for its release.  Furthermore, I cannot wait to see them perform Armistice live in concert on October 14th, 2oo9 in Denver!

July 4th, 2009 Weekend

Wow, it’s been too long since I’ve written a blog entry.  I need to get back in the habit of this writing this thing.  I’ve been so busy with moving out here that I haven’t had a chance to sit down and pour my thoughts out.

I just returned from spending a wonderful July 4th weekend with Alison.  On Friday, Alison and I spent the afternoon with my parents at the Children’s Museum in downtown Indianapolis. We acted like a bunch of twelve year olds at every opportunity that we could get in just to have fun.  The coolest thing we saw was a glass sculpture tower and a ceiling that had colorful sculptures spread everywhere.  You could look up at this ceiling from a rotating seat and see all kinds of neat things. That night, we had a wonderful dinner with her sister and her husband.

On Saturday, July 4th, it poured rain all day. Alison and I had hoped to go swimming in the afternoon but weren’t able to do so.  In the evening, we attended a wedding for two of Alison’s friends and I was finally able to meet some of her friends that she had told all about me.

The following is a soap box rant and reflects my thoughts on I witnessed today at church. This is just personal opinion, not fact.

On Sunday, Alison and I attended church and heard an extreme evangelist, John Muncy, speak.  I was rather disgusted with how this so-called preacher delivered a message that twisted the bible and took it’s words out of context in such a way that it fit his own desires.  He was completely offensive in his message by attacking homosexuals, adultery, pornography, and even used the term “whore” when he referenced to the South Carolina governor’s recent actions during his “message”.  He even attacked Michael Jackson, who died no less than two weeks ago!  This is completely WRONG and irrelevant teaching to the bible.  God did not intend his word to be twisted and attack his believers like the way that John Muncy did today.  Instead, Christianity is about God’s grace and forgiveness of us, not condemning someone because they’ve screwed up.  No one is perfect.  However, we are forgiven through the death of Jesus Christ. What I witnessed today is the sort of thing I was originally afraid of when exploring Christianity.  What John Muncy delivered today is the very sort of message that is likely to drive new Christians and those exploring faith away. I cannot believe the words I heard today from this man’s mouth. I wanted to smack John Muncy.  HARD.

Ok, stepping down from my soap box.

Life after College?

September 5th, 2008.  I have officially been living on my own for 2 months, five days as of today.  I never though that this newfound freedom could come any sooner than it did.  Yet, with this newfound freedom also comes a price.  That price is a little thing known as responsibility.  For the first time, I must support myself financially to pay for all the wonderful things that I have in this apartment.  That means bills.  I am still in the process of buying certain necessities:

• Dining room table and chairs.  I’ve ordered the table, but I won’t have it until the end of October.  The chairs will be bought soon, hopefully on sale next month.
• Automotive and Renter’s Insurance.  I collected a few quotes today from the major players in the Insurance industry.  Automotive insurance is NOT cheap, especially if you are male and under the age of 25 like I am.  Stereotypes suck.  I am by no means a dangerous driver, but apparently being these two items is criteria for high insurance rates.
• Printer.  I could have bought this already but am waiting to get the above two big ticket items out of the way.
• Night stand.
• Coffee table.
• Various kitchen stuff, mainly cutlerly, extra pots and pans.

The search for a new church home has been completed as well.  I am attending a church that has 6,000 members combined with three services, and two locations.  I thought that Oakbrook was big with it’s 1900 capacity… This is much bigger.  Both locations are linked together via a live telecast.  The messages taught each week are incredibly thought provoking.  It has been a little hard to make friends in a church of this size, but hopefully the upcoming small group I will be joining will help to alleviate this problem.

This past weekend saw me home in Indiana visiting family for Labor Day weekend with Alison.  It was too short.  However, great strides were made because my parents are finally warming up to Alison.  This was incredibly apparent at dinner at the Half Moon Brewery on Saturday when they were completely enthralled in conversation with her.  I can tell that they really like her.  Sunday saw the two of us attending church together before heading to Seymour.  Worship was amazing… we heard Hillsong United’s Shout Unto God in her car on the way there and then got to sing it at church as well!

Next week will be interesting as I travel to Huntsville, Alabama for a business trip.  I have never been on a business trip where I have to stay overnight in a hotel.  Even still, 12 hours of my work week will be spent in airports and on planes.

The one thing I miss from Indiana is all of the amazing friendships I have made in the last two years of my collegiate career.  There are so many influential people that I met at the Light and Truth Bible Studies that I truly miss being able to converse and enjoy their company with.  I almost wish that I had never left Indiana.  It is so hard not being able to talk to these people in person much less on the phone.

Comment.  I’d love to hear your thoughts.  It’d let me know that someone is actually reading these things!

The Drive, Settling into the Apartment, and a little Sight-seeing too!

So, I managed to make the two day drive to Colorado Springs.  The first half of the drive on June 28th, 2008 was spent driving from Kokomo, IN to Topeka, KS where we stayed in a hotel for the night.  I spent the majority of the day doing a fair amount of the driving.  Pretty boring drive except for the gigantic cross that I saw in Missouri before St. Louis.

The next day, June 29th 2008, we headed toward Colorado Springs from Topeka.  This day decided to be a little hectic for some reason.  That reason was the fact that I was effectively purchasing gasoline for two vehicles on a single credit card during the course of the trip.  Needless to say, my credit card company decided to lock me out of my credit card at a gas station some where in Kansas and then again at a gas station just off of US 24 outside of Limon, CO.  The first time it happened I expected it but the second time it happened I wasted almost 20 minutes calling my credit card company to clear up the situation.  They blamed the gas station’s “modems” and said that “sometimes these things just don’t connect up to our network correctly.”  Yeah right, I didn’t buy that excuse for a minute.  I was a bit annoyed, but I understood why they locked me out of my credit card both times.  They were only taking precautions so that someone other than me was not making erroneous transactions.

Colorado, Here I Come!

The packing is officially done.  I leave for Colorado Springs today.  The drive to Colorado Springs is being split into two separate days with the first half driving to Topeka, KS and the last half spent driving the other half of the distance.  Total mileage is around 1,122 miles and 17 hours in driving time.

This moving experience has taught me a great deal.  I’ve learned that I apparently did not order enough boxes or bubble wrap to pack my possessions.  I used every single box that we had in my house plus three extra that I had to go buy from Staples.  I probably bought $40.00 dollars worth of bubble wrap (260 feet worth) in addition to what bubble wrap came with my packing boxes.  The most interesting part of packing my truck was when my friend Luke and I tried to take my desk apart only for my father and I to realize later that the stupid thing was glued together.

The next few weeks will be spent unpacking, purchasing new furniture, appliances, and other apartment related items.  In this same time frame, I have to get acclaimated to my new employer.  It is hard to believe that I finished school in four solid years and landed an awesome job opportunity.  I am so excited to be finally living on my own for the first time.  It means accepting a lot of new responsibilities, but I know that I will be able to handle it.

I can see myself changing a great deal in Colorado.  I’ve already changed so much within the last month, but I think that Colorado will irrevocably change me for the rest of my life.

Oh, the Insanity of Packing!

The packing has begun.  I wasn’t planning on packing until next week, but it’s probably a good thing that I started early.  Oh the insanity of trying to organize things by room!  I never thought it would be this difficult.

I basically have several rooms to pack for:

1. Bathroom
2. Bedroom
3. Kitchen/Laundry
4. Living Room
5. Office

In the last three days I have spent time basically trying to figure out what needs to go where.  I guess I’m kind of figuring it out as I go…  which probably isn’t good, but I don’t really feel like trying to take the time to organize it all before packing.  That would just slow me down.  All in all, it’s probably a good thing I started packing a week early.  I have maybe 40% of my stuff packed but need to pack a ton more.

It’s amazing how much junk you can accumulate over the years… I spent last night going through my electronics for my office and separated what was mine, my fathers, and what was junk.  Needless to say, I cut the pile down in half.  My goal is to only take items that I absolutely want to take.

1 week.  I can’t believe I’m moving in 1 week.  Wow.

His Timing is Never Early or Late but Exactly On Time.

June 28th, 2008. The date that I move to Colorado. It seems so far away yet so close. I cannot believe that my time in Indiana is quickly coming to an end. These last few weeks have been amazing even with all of the stress that I am going through with planning this move. I cannot wait to start this new chapter of my life and experience a new area of the United States.

Yesterday in church I realized just how much God has been guiding me on my path of life. I connected with him in such a way during worship that brought tears of joy to my eyes. I actually cried in church. Yea, it was that powerful. It’s almost as if God set me up for the failures that I have been through in the past, especially with relationships and dating, so that I would eventually discover Alison. We’d been friends for over a year and a half, and it was only recently after the Skillet concert and throughout the month of May that we both realized that there was a connection between us. “His timing is never early or late but exactly on time.” These words are so true. Even though I am moving to Colorado, I know that God intended both of these things to happen within a matter of months of each other. Moving to Colorado may have came first, but equally important is God directing me toward that something I’ve been looking for a very long time. For the first time in my life, I am truly happy and it is all because of the lord.

Side note: I’m looking for help on June 27th, 2008 to load my moving truck. Help is greatly appreciated. Let me know if you’re interested, please.

Change is good. God is good.

Those Unexpected Treasures

It’s amazing how certain things happen in life when you least expect them to. I never expected to find myself moving cross-country to Colorado or land an amazing employment opportunity on my first set of interviews after the end of my senior year of college. Better still, I never imagined discovering something that is so amazing when I did. God’s timing is just one of those things that can’t be understood but just appreciated for the simplicity that it really is. Yet somehow, through the lord, it all was provided.

I’ve been reading Wild at Heart by John Eldridge lately for the small group that I am a member of. Prior to starting to read it, I’d heard so much about it that intrigued my interest as to why a man (or woman…) needed to read a book about masculinity. Now I understand why… We each have some sort of wound that hinders us from moving forward in our lives that we must let go of in order to grow so much stronger in the lord. I’m not even halfway through the book and it has helped me to realize that holding on to past wounds only leads us creating a “false self” that we hide behind. For me this is definitely true, because I found myself hiding my true self behind that of an individual who wanted to please everyone and be considered “cool”. Wild at Heart definitely has been a positive influence on my life. I seriously needed to read this book when I started to read it because reading this book has lead to a lot of changes within me that I can’t even begin to describe with mere words.

Four Years Can Really Change an Individual

Wow. Time apparently travels fast. I still can’t believe that only two days ago I finished college. It seems just like yesterday I graduated from high school and found my first job. Was that really four years ago? I guess it was. I’ve changed so much in the past four years.

Academically, my grades were ok in high school. I wasn’t a high achieving honors student or a complete failure, but I did get decent enough grades. Still though, my grades were rather average in my eyes. High School felt like the material being learned was forced and I didn’t particularly care for the majority of it. College is a different story though. I managed to maintain a very respectable GPA throughout my college career and enjoyed most of what I’ve learned.

I don’t know about you, but I simply hated high school because I was constantly teased by many people about all sorts of stupid things. This teasing really played a huge role in me being really lonely throughout high school up until finding Christ in 2007 (more on this later). Socializing with people was pretty much nonexistent to me because I didn’t fit the in-crowd or wasn’t doing the “cool” thing like underage drinking or partying. Why is it that kids feel that drinking and partying is the only way to be cool? I really don’t get it. Being wasted all the time is not my idea of fun. I’d rather enjoy a solid conversation with a friend over being inebriated any day.

Are Online Social Networks Really Just Social?

The following is a research paper written for my L201 Legal Law class about online social networking and the idea of privacy.  I had intended to post this a few weeks earlier but decided against it due to the fact that the semester had not ended yet.  During the course of conducting my research for this paper, my eyes were opened to just how non existent privacy is in regards to the internet.  This paper may not be entirely correct, but I hope that it does make a valid point.

Introduction

One of the most prevalent advances in technology in the last twenty years has been the invention of the internet.  Throughout recent years, this very same internet has allowed individuals across vast distances to be connected through virtual meeting places known as online social networks that allow users to share a variety of personal information.  However, at the same time these same online social networks have given rise to a host of privacy issues.  The purpose of this paper is to analyze whether or not these online social networks protect the privacy of their users.  This analysis will be accomplished in several steps.  First, appropriate background information regarding privacy, online social networks, and the problems associated with these online social networks will be given in order to form a basis for understanding the issues at hand.  Second, these issues at hand will be looked at in great detail.  This four part analysis can be broken down into its individual sub-analyses that include a look at if information really is private on social networks; what the problem with corporations and online social networks consists of; the problem with current privacy laws; and why privacy should be protected in an online environment such as an online social network.