New Music Mania

So, this last week I went on a craze to find new music and found some awesome artists that I loved!

The Be Good Tanyas:


Their folk/bluegrass/indie music are complete with songs that I find full of artistic flare and true talent. 
My personal favorite is "What are They Doing in Heaven Today?" .
Their songs are eerily somber, and remind me alot of the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack with alot of blugrass roots especially with their use of banjo and fiddle.

Youtube Video: What are They Doing in Heaven Today?
Youtube Video: Parting Glass

Visit Their Website Here



The Wailin Jennys


The Wailin Jennys are a trio of soprano Ruth Moody, mezzo Nicky Mehta, and alto Heather Masse, their harmonic voices are angelically airy. My personal favorite is "Parting Glass" and "Beautiful Dawn". They too encompass bluegrass with their use of mandolin, fiddle, banjo, guitar, and standing bass.

Youtube Video: Beautiful Dawn

Visit Their Website



Damien Rice



Damian Rice is an Irish singer/songwriter/musician who plays guitar, cello, violin, piano, and drums.He started out in a rock band and after they split, moved to Tuscany, Italy to take up farming (another reason why I love him!) He eventually went back to music (thank God!) He has a very intriguing style, again one that is pure talent, and not alot of bells and whistles. My personal favorites are "9 crimes" & "Volcano"

Youtube Video: Volcano

Visit His Website


Gillian Welch


Gillian Welch, best known for her role in "I'll Fly Away" on the O Brother Where Art Thou soundtrack, is straight out of bluegrass country. Her southernly dry voice is surprisingly comforting against the melodic bluegrass tunes. My personal favorites are of course "I'll Fly Away" with Alison Krauss, "One More Dollar" and "Orphan Girl".
If you don't like bluegrass music, sorry Gillian probably isn't for you. Her songs are rich in bluegrass mechanics: mandolin, banjo, standing bass, and southern crooning.
She makes me think of sitting out on the back porch of my great-grandparents house, and my days when I played in fiddle contests.
I definetly recommend her music!

Youtube Video: I'll Fly Away

Visit Her Website



- I hope you enjoy them all!!

Native Images

Went with a friend of mine downtown to take some photos, and these are some of the results:

Some of My Photography

Hope you enjoy!

-Morgan

Grinnin'

A smile can change the world!

One thing I've noticed lately is the amount of people that walk around campus daily in a shell. No one smiles, talks, except to their small group of friends if they're around. If walking alone, most people look past everyone, with often a straight unemotional face.

Well, I started to wonder, why don't we all smile at each other?

A smile is contagious! How often has someone turned and smiled at you and you just can't help but smile back!

So, I made it a mission to remove the isolating earphones on my walk and to smile at everyone I looked at on my way between classes.

I got lots of smiles back and an occasional "Hi!" or nod.

It completely changed my attitude for the whole day!

It's amazing what a smile can do :)

- Morgan :)

"Burning the Qur'an does not Illuminate the Bible"- NY Times

So, I was reading the New York Times for this week,(We get a free copy on campus) and something very interesting caught my eye. 

In a full page add space was this:

The ad was put on by the American Bible Society. As most of you know, there has been an ongoing conflict because of a threat made by a Florida pastor to burn a Qur'an on the ninth anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks.

The pastor is Terry Jones from Gainesville, Florida. 

On September 8, Jones told the Early Show:

 "As of right now, we feel that this message is that important. We are still determined to do it, yes,"

This of course has been splattered across the news stations because of its controversial issue. And, of course when I find something interesting across the news, I research it quite a bit.

What I found interesting was the reason for Jones' proposition to have a day devoted to burning the holy book of the Muslim religion.

For one, Jones and his wife claimed to learn about the laws of the muslim religion, by watching videos on YouTube. I don't know about you, but I am sure that is not a credible source of information!

Here's a section from an article: "Despite admitting to CBS in an interview a day earlier that his actions would almost certainly offend all the world's Muslims, Jones insisted Wednesday morning that his "warning" was "geared towards radical Islam," See the news article here

Another article: "The plan to burn Qurans has already generated protests in Afghanistan, where hundreds chanted "Long live Islam" and "Death to America" at a rally over the weekend. Thousands rallied in Jakarta, Indonesia and other cities two days earlier over the planned Quran burnings" See that article

The Pastor, has now agreed to cancel the burnings because there has been a bargain that the Mosque near Ground Zero will be moved.

Here is a video of the cancellation announcment from Jones: Video Announcment

Okay, all news articles, interviews, and media aside, here is my take on the whole thing:

The American Bible Society said it best "Burning the Qur'an does not illuminate the Bible."

To quote their press release: "The true Biblical response to those of other faiths is respect and civility in religious discussions, disagreements and debates. Acts of hatred in the name of Christianity are antithetical to the good news of the Gospel so intrinsically expressed in the Bible."

How in the world would burning the Qu'ran be furthering the kingdom of Heaven? Are we not taught by Jesus to love your neighbor as yourself?

The burning of the Qu'ran is a misrepresentation of Jesus, and the love of Jesus to millions worldwide.

Jones says the burnings are intended agains radical Islams who practive 'violence and hatred' which oddly enough is exacly what he himself is practicing. The Dean of Duke Divinity School, Richard Hays, compared Jones' plan to the burnign ceremony in 1933 by the Nazi regime of more than 20,000 jewish books.

Jones claims that instead his planned act is like that of the 1st Century Christians who brought their scrolls of witchcraft to burn following their conversion (Acts 19:11-20). 

Sadly, Jones has that senario awefully wrong: those new converts (speaking about the 1st Century Christians) brought their own books to burn as a symbol of their repentance. They were not burning others' books, as Jones is doing, in order to radically communicate a political message and send a warning.

Jones has a post of his church's blog titled: Ten Reasons to Burn a Qu'ran. I could go down and address each one individually, but instead I give you this:

One Reason Not to Burn the Quran: The Love of Jesus Christ.

That's enough.

The burning of a Qu'ran would only exacerbate tensions towards the Christian faith by non-believers. And above all, it's disrespectfull, and not of the teachings of the bible.

Matthew 5:43-44 says,

"You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,"

That is the character of a true radical Christian.

Baylor vs. SHSU

On Saturday, Baylor played Sam Houston State University. It was a major blowout! A great season opener- where the Baylor line was bigger than ever!

The final score? Baylor 34 SHSU 3

 

Photos by me!

Italia attraverso la lente della fotocamera.

 (Italy through the camera lens. )

This summer I had the amazing opportunity to visit Italy. It was an awesome country- my favorite!

I would suggest that everyone visit at some point in their life.

The country is beautiful everywhere- from the slow rural life, to the busy chaos of Rome. History, beauty, and art are sprinkled throughout the country along with astounding food as well. So, here is some photos I took while there,  so enjoy!