I've been both intrigued and utterly confused the last two times I've been to my local Mix-Up (the biggest chain of music stores in Mexico). In general, they have the same music section titles as we do plus an English section. So, when you're browsing, it looks something like this...Rock en español, Rock en inglés, Pop en español, Pop en inglés, Música electrónica, Música norteña, Soundtracks, Death Trash. WAIT...Death Trash? Both times I've been in this specific store, I have stopped, done a double take, and laughed. I suppose they are taking "death" from "death metal." As for "trash," I'm just gonna guess that it should be "thrash" stemming from "thrash metal." Regardless, the phrase "Death Trash" will forever make me chuckle.
ALSO on my latest visit to Mix-Up, I was enlightened to the fact that Milli Vanilli has a new greatest hits record. So many questions come to mind. Is this just a Mexico thing or is this world-wide? If it is just a Mexico thing, is there some secret Milli Vanilli following I don't know about here? Where is Milli Vanilli now? Where is Vh1's "Where Are They Now?" when you need it?
Thursday, March 27, 2008
Friday, March 21, 2008
"Cotton Crush" (In a Big Way)
Most of you who normally read my blog have already become acquainted with Kevin Devine through a previous video of his that I posted. However, you haven't seen anything until you've seen Kevin Devine and the Goddamn Band. In this particular instance, based on my humble calculations, the band consists of:
5 guitarists
3 drummers
2 percussionists
1 keyboardist
and
1 bassist.
That's 12 people on stage at once.
Thursday, March 20, 2008
To Have Too Much is to Have Nothing
In Mexico, not many places take Credit or Debit Cards. The normal result of that is that one has to watch his or her finances as to not be stuck somewhere without any cash. However, it's not long before one realizes that the other extreme is quite plausible as well. Not only can I not have too little money, but I can't have too much money, at least not in large bills. The average establishment cannot make change for large bills, and many places (for example taxis, small restaurants, gas stations) will many times not accept large bills. Hence my yesterday's frustrations:
7am I need to be at church to serve at our Semana Santa community breakfasts. Since it is early, I decide to take a taxi to buy me some extra time to rest and get ready. When it is time to leave I check my wallet to see what kind of bills I have. Alas, I have only A SINGLE 500 PESO BILL. That's the equivalent of a 50 dollar bill. It is then that I realize that my day will be cursed. Knowing that no taxi driver will be able to make change for my bill (it takes about 3 dollars to get to church), I hope I will find a store that can give me change. However, since it is so early, no stores are open. I then begin my microbus, metro, microbus pilgrimage to the church. Arriving at the metro, I decide to check at a farmacy and a snack shop to see if by some miracle of God they have change. They do not.
10am After the church breakfast I am dead tired and need to get home for a solid nap. However, I still have "no" money. Thankfully, a friend from church offers to give me a ride.
4:30pm After English Club I am dying of thirst. But the puesto at the UNAM is not very well going to have change for 500 pesos. A friend is kind enough to lend me ten pesos (a dollar). I am now in debt because I have 50 dollars.
7:30pm I need to get back to my place quick to shower and change before I head out to have dinner and drinks with a friend. I need a taxi. But twelve hours after my original discovery of my 500 peso curse, I still haven't gotten rid of the maldito bill. Another friend is kind enough to lend me 3o pesos (3 dollars). I am now 4 dollars in debt because I have 50 dollars.
10pm After some delicious proof of God's goodness in the form of tacos al pastor, I lay down my cursed bill and cross my fingers that the waiter will accept this loaded offering. To my surprise he brings me back a tray full of change and I wonder at the fact that I actually have money now. The curse is passed on to some other poor joker who will go an entire day with a full wallet but be forced to live as if he had absolutely no money.
Moral of the story: In the Third World, to have too much is to have nothing at all.
7am I need to be at church to serve at our Semana Santa community breakfasts. Since it is early, I decide to take a taxi to buy me some extra time to rest and get ready. When it is time to leave I check my wallet to see what kind of bills I have. Alas, I have only A SINGLE 500 PESO BILL. That's the equivalent of a 50 dollar bill. It is then that I realize that my day will be cursed. Knowing that no taxi driver will be able to make change for my bill (it takes about 3 dollars to get to church), I hope I will find a store that can give me change. However, since it is so early, no stores are open. I then begin my microbus, metro, microbus pilgrimage to the church. Arriving at the metro, I decide to check at a farmacy and a snack shop to see if by some miracle of God they have change. They do not.
10am After the church breakfast I am dead tired and need to get home for a solid nap. However, I still have "no" money. Thankfully, a friend from church offers to give me a ride.
4:30pm After English Club I am dying of thirst. But the puesto at the UNAM is not very well going to have change for 500 pesos. A friend is kind enough to lend me ten pesos (a dollar). I am now in debt because I have 50 dollars.
7:30pm I need to get back to my place quick to shower and change before I head out to have dinner and drinks with a friend. I need a taxi. But twelve hours after my original discovery of my 500 peso curse, I still haven't gotten rid of the maldito bill. Another friend is kind enough to lend me 3o pesos (3 dollars). I am now 4 dollars in debt because I have 50 dollars.
10pm After some delicious proof of God's goodness in the form of tacos al pastor, I lay down my cursed bill and cross my fingers that the waiter will accept this loaded offering. To my surprise he brings me back a tray full of change and I wonder at the fact that I actually have money now. The curse is passed on to some other poor joker who will go an entire day with a full wallet but be forced to live as if he had absolutely no money.
Moral of the story: In the Third World, to have too much is to have nothing at all.
Thursday, March 06, 2008
Free Keller Resources
While browsing for theological resources on Monergism.com, I discovered that Tim Keller (one of my favorite preachers and pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in NYC) is the highlighted "Monthly Focus." Now, this would be only slightly exciting except for the fact that they also offer an entire page of FREE sermons and papers by Dr. Keller! This includes Keller's "Defeater" sermons (complete with study guides), which are the basis for his new book The Reason for God, sermons on "The Cross of Christ," sermons on "Smashing False Idols," and a 12-semonn series entitled "Redeemer's Vision Campaign: A Season of Covenant Renewal."
This will keep me occupied and happy for a good, long while.
This will keep me occupied and happy for a good, long while.
Monday, March 03, 2008
I just ordered these books...
and my parents are going to bring them down in late March.
Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon
Monkey Hunting by Cristina Garcia
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller
The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life by Armand M. Nicholi Jr.
Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas by Chuck Klosterman
A Royal "Waste" of Time: The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World by Marva J. Dawn
The Pastor in Prayer by Charles Spurgeon
The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World by David F. Wells
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Lectures to My Students by Charles Spurgeon
Monkey Hunting by Cristina Garcia
The Reason for God: Belief in an Age of Skepticism by Tim Keller
The Question of God: C.S. Lewis and Sigmund Freud Debate God, Love, Sex, and the Meaning of Life by Armand M. Nicholi Jr.
Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas by Chuck Klosterman
A Royal "Waste" of Time: The Splendor of Worshiping God and Being Church for the World by Marva J. Dawn
The Pastor in Prayer by Charles Spurgeon
The Supremacy of Christ in a Postmodern World by David F. Wells
High Fidelity by Nick Hornby
Sunday, March 02, 2008
Black Coffee
It's been a while since I've posted any poetry. Honestly, I haven't written much since I graduated, but it is still something that I really enjoy. While flipping through a notebook to begin writing a Bible Study today, I found this poem that I wrote a month or two ago in a coffee shop. I really appreciate how the meaning still connects with me months after I wrote it, and it has even taken on new forms of meaning that I couldn't have had in mind when I wrote it. Such is the nature and beauty of poetry.
Black Coffee
There’s a soft folk song on the radio.
The feminine melody has me wanting to fall in love.
“Sometimes I pray for you” connects deep down
and gives me hope that I’m not alone. Gives
me hope that I’m not the only one longing
to be joined—pulled out of the lonely abyss
to empathy and passion and mirrored selflessness.
I take my coffee black.
B – L – A – C – K
It is the purest color.
P – U – R – I – T – Y
It is the most pleasingly bitter taste my tongue
has ever interpreted. I cannot help but find
sweet comfort in the physical.
Black Coffee
There’s a soft folk song on the radio.
The feminine melody has me wanting to fall in love.
“Sometimes I pray for you” connects deep down
and gives me hope that I’m not alone. Gives
me hope that I’m not the only one longing
to be joined—pulled out of the lonely abyss
to empathy and passion and mirrored selflessness.
I take my coffee black.
B – L – A – C – K
It is the purest color.
P – U – R – I – T – Y
It is the most pleasingly bitter taste my tongue
has ever interpreted. I cannot help but find
sweet comfort in the physical.
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